The study of the potential of a plant population makes the selection of a breeding program more efficient, allowing satisfactory genetic gains and identifying the potential of this population, among ...others, for advances in generations. The genetic potential of
Eucalyptus benthamii
is still poorly studied. This species has relevant characteristics for increasing productivity, frost tolerance and, mainly, the quality of wood, with an emphasis on cellulose production. The goal of this study was to evaluate the potential of a sample of
Eucalyptus
individuals for suitability of use, based on technological characteristics and wood growth through uni, bi, and multivariate techniques. The genetic material sampled comes from a test of progenies of
E. benthamii
, 4 years old from the company CMPC Celulose Riograndense. The sample consisted of 75 individuals of
E. benthamii
and three individuals of three other species that were used as controls (
E. saligna
,
E. grandis
and
E. dunnii
), totaling 87 individuals, chosen by industrial criteria. The population of
E. benthamii
under study has good potential to be explored through selective techniques in view of the witnesses used, considering the descriptive statistics, the association of characteristics and analysis of factors. Also, enabling the selection of superior materials within this sampling.
The cGAS-STING pathway appears to contribute to dysregulated inflammation during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); however, inflammatory factors related to long COVID are still being investigated. ...In the present study, we evaluated the association of cGAS and STING gene expression levels and plasma IFN-α, TNF-α and IL-6 levels with COVID-19 severity in acute infection and long COVID, based on analysis of blood samples from 148 individuals, 87 with acute COVID-19 and 61 in the post-COVID-19 period. Quantification of gene expression was performed by real-time PCR, and cytokine levels were quantified by ELISA and flow cytometry. In acute COVID-19, cGAS, STING, IFN-α, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels were higher in patients with severe disease than in those with nonsevere manifestations (p < 0.05). Long COVID was associated with elevated cGAS, STING and IFN-α levels (p < 0.05). Activation of the cGAS-STING pathway may contribute to an intense systemic inflammatory state in severe COVID-19 and, after infection resolution, induce an autoinflammatory disease in some tissues, resulting in long COVID.
This study aimed to characterize the occurrence, duration, and intensity of the flushes of vegetative growth in two peach cultivars of Prunus persica L. Batsch, grown as a pioneer endeavor at a ...high-altitude tropical climate site in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The observational experiment was carried out in 2017/18 and 2018/19 on the 'Tropic Beauty' and 'BRS Kampai' cultivars by an evaluation of the number and duration of flushes of vegetative growth during the year over two cycles. The number of fruit-bearing shoots, total number of leaves and shoot length were also assessed. At harvest, fruit load and diameter were determined and grouped into diameter ranges. The number of hours recorded at different temperature ranges, < 10.0 °C; 10.1-15.0 °C; 15.1-20.0 °C; 20.1-25.0 °C; > 25.1 °C, were summed separately and divided into daily and nightly periods. The peach tree has an unusual vegetative growth pattern when cultivated in a tropical area, which occurs in two flushes, with the first flush occurring from budbreak to fruit harvest between June and Sept, forming short shoots (less than 10 cm), with early shoot growth cessation, with a limited leaf number that can potentially diminish the supply of carbohydrates to the fruit, leading to smaller growth. The second flush occurs after harvest, between Oct and Dec, when there is an increase in daily temperature and precipitation, and no competition with fruits. Notabily, these second flush shoots grow with greater vigor and regularization of the growth cycle, forming fruit-bearing shoots with abundant leaf and flower buds for the next production cycle.
Irrigated agriculture needs significant amounts of water for increasing irrigated areas to meet the increase food demand. New alternatives with high water use efficiency are needed to increase crop ...productivity. This work evaluates the use of plastic film mulch either as groundcover or as a percolation barrier to increase yields and water use efficiency of pineapple (Ananas comosus L.). An experiment was carried out with pineapple on a loamy sand-soil. The treatments were: (i) soil tillage with plastic film as groundcover combined with plastic film as a percolation barrier installed at 0.40 m below the soil surface; (ii) soil tillage with no groundcover combined with a percolation barrier; (iii) soil tillage with plastic film as groundcover only; (iv) soil tillage without groundcover and percolation barrier. The use of plastic mulch maintained the levels of soil water availability at least 80% during the crop cycle, while without it soil water values ranged from 15% to 70%. Groundcover with plastic mulch contributed significantly to decrease evapotranspiration and the medium crop coefficient. The plastic groundcover combined with or without the plastic percolation barrier yielded the better results of productivity, irrigation water productivity, and water footprint. The mean irrigation water productivity and water footprint were 667.12 kg mm−1 ha−1 and 109.0 L kg−1, respectively, for the use of a plastic groundcover combined with a plastic percolation barrier. The percolation barrier was more effective for saving water than for increasing yield. The use of percolation barrier with plastic contributed for saving 92–103 L kg−1 ha−1 when combined with or without ground cover.
•Mulch controls soil water evaporation and percolation for pineapple crop.•Mulch keeps the soil with high water availability in pineapple under irrigation.•Plastic groundcover and percolation barrier enhances yields and water footprint.•Plastic film as water percolation barrier increases yield less than as groundcover.
The IgG response against SARS-CoV-2 infection can persist for over six months (long response; LR). However, among 30% of those infected, the duration can be as short as three months or less (short ...response; SR). The present study assembled serological data on the anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG response duration of two previous studies and integrated these results with the plasmatic cytokine levels and genetic profile of 10 immune-relevant SNPs that were also previously published, along with the plasmatic total IgG, IgA, and IgM levels, allowing for the genetic, clinical, immunological, and epidemiological aspects of the post-COVID-19 IgG response duration to be understood. The SR was associated with previous mild acute COVID-19 and with an SNP (rs2228145) in IL6R related to low gene expression. Additionally, among the SR subgroup, no statistically significant Spearman correlations were observed between the plasma levels of IL-17A and the Th17 regulatory cytokines IFN-γ (rs = 0.2399; p = 0.1043), IL-4 (rs = 0.0273; p = 0.8554), and IL-2 (rs = 0.2204; p = 0.1365), while among the LR subgroup, weaker but statistically significant Spearman correlations were observed between the plasma levels of IL-17A and IFN-γ (rs = 0.3873; p = 0.0016), IL-4 (rs = 0.2671; p = 0.0328), and IL-2 (rs = 0.3959; p = 0.0012). These results suggest that the Th17 response mediated by the IL-6 pathway has a role in the prolonged IgG response to SARS-CoV-2 infection.
This study aimed to describe pronephros and mesonephros morphology during the embryonic development of Podocnemis expansa. Eggs were collected on an artificial beach at Balbina, Amazonas, Brazil, ...during the entire incubation period (mean of 59 days). The kidney‐gonad complex was processed using light microscopy and the mesonephros using transmission electron microscopy. The pronephros was present for the first time on stage 4, composed of external glomeruli devoid of a capsule, protruding into the coelomic cavity, and internally composed of a capillary network. The pronephros degenerated after development stage 15. The first sign of the appearance of the mesonephros occurred around stage 8, indicated by the early formation of renal corpuscles. The mesonephros comprised an renal corpuscles, neck segment, proximal tubule, intermediate segment, distal tubule, collector tubule, and collector duct. Ultrastructural analysis of the mesonephros brush border was done in the proximal tubule, and the presence of cells with structural characters indicative of secretory activity was detected in the juxtatubular region. Renal corpuscles and proximal tubules were the main components that underwent morphological alterations during mesonephros degeneration. The pronephros is a transient kidney, and the mesonephros became the functional embryonic kidney in P. expansa. Mesonephros degeneration occurs in the cranial‐caudal direction, and histologically, the degeneration is identified by changes in the morphology of the renal corpuscle and proximal tubule. However, the mesonephros is still present after hatching.
Aiming to evaluate the role of ten functional polymorphisms in long COVID, involved in major inflammatory, immune response and thrombophilia pathways, a cross-sectional sample composed of 199 long ...COVID (LC) patients and a cohort composed of 79 COVID-19 patients whose follow-up by over six months did not reveal any evidence of long COVID (NLC) were investigated to detect genetic susceptibility to long COVID. Ten functional polymorphisms located in thrombophilia-related and immune response genes were genotyped by real time PCR. In terms of clinical outcomes, LC patients presented higher prevalence of heart disease as preexistent comorbidity. In general, the proportions of symptoms in acute phase of the disease were higher among LC patients. The genotype AA of the interferon gamma (
) gene was observed in higher frequency among LC patients (60%;
= 0.033). Moreover, the genotype CC of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (
) gene was also more frequent among LC patients (49%;
= 0.045). Additionally, the frequencies of LC symptoms were higher among carriers of
genotypes AA than among non-AA genotypes (Z = 5.08;
< 0.0001). Two polymorphisms were associated with LC in both inflammatory and thrombophilia pathways, thus reinforcing their role in LC. The higher frequencies of acute phase symptoms among LC and higher frequency of underlying comorbidities might suggest that acute disease severity and the triggering of preexisting condition may play a role in LC development.
Characteristics related to seed quality have been rarely used in studies on the genetic diversity of passion fruit. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity between progenies ...constituted by hybrids and reciprocals, based on seed emergence and vigor traits. On the 28th day, emergence percentage, emergence speed index, shoot length, root length and total length of seedling; dry weight, number of normal seedlings and 100-seed weight were evaluated in a completely randomized design experiment with 20 progenies (hybrids and reciprocals) and four replications (50 seeds). Genetic diversity was determined using the Tocher optimization clustering methods and the unweighted pair group method, based on the Mahalanobis distance, as well as evaluating the relative contribution of the traits to genetic divergence and the correlation network, according to the relations between groups of quality, length and mass variables. The most contributing variable to genetic divergence was the total length of seedlings, the reciprocal effect did not present a consistent pattern in the studied hybrid combinations.
Resumo: Características relacionadas à qualidade de sementes tem sido pouco utilizada em estudos sobre diversidade genética em maracujazeiro. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a diversidade genética entre progênies constituídas por híbridos e recíprocos com base em características de emergência e vigor das sementes. Foram avaliadas: porcentagem de emergência, índice de velocidade de emergência, comprimento total da plântula, comprimento da parte aérea, comprimento da raiz primária, massa seca de parte aérea, número de plântulas normais e peso de 100 sementes. O experimento foi em delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com 20 progênies (híbridos e recíprocos) e quatro repetições de 50 sementes. A diversidade genética foi determinada através dos métodos de agrupamento de otimização de Tocher e da ligação média não ponderada entre grupos, baseada na distância de Mahalanobis, além de avaliar a contribuição relativa dos caracteres para a divergência genética e a rede de correlações de acordo com as relações entre os grupos de variável qualidade, comprimento e massa. A variável que mais contribuiu para a divergência genética foi o comprimento total da plântula, sendo que o efeito recíproco não apresentou padrão consistente nas combinações híbridas estudadas.
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interferon-gamma (IFNγ) are important inflammatory mediators in the development of cytokine storm syndrome (CSS). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) regulate the ...expression of these cytokines, making host genetics a key factor in the prognosis of COVID-19. In this study, we investigated the associations of the
-308G/A and
+874T/A polymorphisms with COVID-19. We analyzed the frequencies of the two polymorphisms in the control groups (CG:
-308G/A,
= 497;
+874T/A,
= 397), a group of patients with COVID-19 (CoV,
= 222) and among the subgroups of patients with nonsevere (
= 150) and severe (
= 72) COVID-19. We found no significant difference between the genotypic and allelic frequencies of
-308G/A in the groups analyzed; however, both the frequencies of the high expression genotype (TT) (CoV: 13.51% vs. CG: 6.30%;
= 0.003) and the *T allele (CoV: 33.56% vs. CG: 24. 81%;
= 0.001) of the
+874T/A polymorphism were higher in the COVID-19 group than in the control group, with no differences between the subgroups of patients with nonsevere and severe COVID-19. The *T allele of
+874T/A (rs2430561) is associated with susceptibility to symptomatic COVID-19. These SNPs provided valuables clues about the potential mechanism involved in the susceptibility to developing symptomatic COVID-19.
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