Until recently, mammalian sex differentiation was thought to be finalized in the embryo. Development of the tubular genital tract, external genitalia, secondary sexual characteristics and sexual ...behavior are determined largely by the developing gonad. In the last decade, however, it has been shown that continuous sex maintenance is required throughout life. We document proposed ovary to testis transdifferentiation in six captive South African lionesses. These lions were phenotypically female until, as older adults, they began to develop manes, clitoromegaly and increased levels of restlessness and aggression. Similar phenotypic and behavioral changes have been reported very rarely in free-ranging lionesses. Five of the lionesses had been treated repeatedly with deslorelin until they stopped showing estrus. Serum levels of testosterone were similar to those recorded in domestic tom cats in the three lionesses tested. Histological examination revealed an absence of ovarian follicles and small to large scattered islands of interstitial-like cells associated, in larger lesions, with Sertoli-like cells arranged in tubular structures. Oviduct and uterus were present in the four animals in which these were sampled. To date, most studies on this phenomenon have been conducted in laboratory animals. This is the first report of this condition in felids.
•Six lionizers with manes had testicular-like cells but no follicles in their ovaries.•Masculinization regressed after ovariohysterectomy.•Germ cell death due to contraception may result in ovarian transdifferentiation.
•Weight of fruiting body is the key positive contributor to yield in H. erinaceus.•Several strains with promising phenotypes are identified.•Eight QTLs underlying fruiting body and yield-related ...traits are mapped.•The candidate genes involved in fruiting body development are screened.
Hericium erinaceus is a well-known mushroom with compelling health-promoting properties. Detection of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) underlying favorable agronomic traits is essential for breeding of elite cultivars of H. erinaceus. In the present study, a segregation population of H. erinaceus was constructed by crossing the F1 progenies with one tester monokaryon. Five important traits related to fruiting body and yield in this segregation population were surveyed. Then QTL mapping for genetic variation of the surveyed traits were conducted. Two strains, 4–1 and 4–15, with promising phenotypes related to weight of fruiting body and precocity were identified in this population. Correlation analysis indicated that weight of fruiting body was the key positive contributor to yield. A total of eight QTLs underlying fruiting body and yield-related traits were found to be scattered on seven linkage groups. The phenotypic variations explained by each QTL varied from 9.6% to 20.1%. The physical length of the confidence intervals for eight QTLs ranged from 66.6 kb to 315.6 kb, and contained 22 to 94 protein-coding genes. Among them, a few genes that may be involved in fruiting body development were found, which may be candidates regulating fruiting body and yield-related traits. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the genetic dissection of fruiting body and yield-related traits using linkage-based QTL mapping in H. erinaceus. Findings of the present study will facilitate marker-assisted breeding of elite cultivars in H. erinaceus.
Mushrooms have been used for centuries not only as food but also in traditional medicine as a source of components with pro‐health activity. One of them is Coprinus comatus (O.F.Müll.) Pers. also ...called shaggy mane, chicken drumstick mushroom, or lawyer's wig. In Asian countries, C. comatus (CC) is approved as edible mushroom and often cultivated for consumption, whereas in many other countries, although it is widespread, it is unrecognized and not used. In this review, for the first time, we discussed about the composition related to functional properties as well as the potential risks associated with consumption of CC by reviewing scientific literature. The information has been collected in order to get to know this species thoroughly. Various studies show many of the physiological activities, such as antioxidant, anticancer, antiandrogenic, hepatoprotective, acetylcholinesterase inhibitory, antiinflammatory, antidiabetic, antiobesity, antibacterial, antifungal, antinematode, and antiviral. Besides positive physiological properties, CC has also negative features, for example, skin reactions in patients with dermatitis and atopic predisposition, risk of confusion with poisonous mushrooms, quick autolysis after collection, and contamination of toxic elements.
Hericium erinaceus is a valuable mushroom known for its strong bioactive properties. It shows promising potential as an excellent neuroprotective agent, capable of stimulating nerve growth factor ...release, regulating inflammatory processes, reducing oxidative stress, and safeguarding nerve cells from apoptosis. The active compounds in the mushroom, such as erinacines and hericenones, have been the subject of research, providing evidence of their neuroprotective effects. Further research and standardization processes for dietary supplements focused on H. erinaceus are essential to ensuring effectiveness and safety in protecting the nervous system. Advancements in isolation and characterization techniques, along with improved access to pure analytical standards, will play a critical role in achieving standardized, high-quality dietary supplements based on H. erinaceus. The aim of this study is to analyze the protective and nourishing effects of H. erinaceus on the nervous system and present the most up-to-date research findings related to this topic.
Track-before-detect (TBD) of weak maneuvering targets in range-Doppler plane is investigated. The existing TBD methods suffer from performance degradation due to the use of approximate motion models ...in range-Doppler plane. In this paper, exact time evolving rules of target range and Doppler are presented for constant acceleration (CA) and coordinated turn (CT) motions in Cartesian coordinates, and two novel pseudo-spectrum based TBD approaches are proposed for effective detection of weak CA and CT targets in range-Doppler plane, respectively. In accordance with the common CA and CT motions in Cartesian coordinates, the accurate time evolution equations of range and Doppler are derived for CA and CT targets, respectively, which are nonlinear functions of range-Doppler and several invariable parameters. Then, the pseudo-spectrum based TBD of CA and CT targets in range-Doppler plane is performed by matching these invariants. Each range-Doppler cell is predicted according to the exact evolution equation. A pseudo-spectrum is constructed around the predicted position, and sample values of the pseudo-spectrum are added onto cells for energy integration. This eliminates performance loss caused by model mismatch and target output envelope can be well maintained. To deal with the unknown target parameters, two pseudo-spectrum based matched filter banks are proposed for CA and CT targets, respectively. Analysis and design of the filter banks are provided in detail. Simulations are conducted to evaluate the validity of the proposed methods in handling weak maneuvering targets.
Similarities in male and female genitalic structure isolate a small group of taxa in the genus Iolaus Hübner, 1819, subgenus Philiolaus Stempffer & Bennett, 1958, related to Iolaus aequatorialis ...Stempffer & Bennett, 1958. They are assigned to the newly proposed I. aequatorialis species group with two new species recognised and described. This action also clarifies previous taxonomic misunderstandings involving a few other species with similar facies because of a lack of information on male and female genital morphology.
Lion’s Mane mushroom (
Hericium erinaceus
), LM, is a medicinal mushroom which has various bioactive compounds within its fruiting bodies. However, during the cultivation, a large amount of the ...irregular-shape LM (Ir-LM) was generated. This mushroom type was considered a mushroom by-product. In this study, conventional solvent extraction (Maceration) and supercritical fluid extraction using carbon dioxide (SCFE-CO
2
) were performed to compare the recovery of ergosterol, hericenone C, and hericene A content from Reg-LM and Ir-LM fruiting bodies. Furthermore, two extraction conditions (40°C at 200 bar and 70°C at 350 bar) were conducted for the SCFE-CO
2
technique. The results showed that SCFE-CO
2
methods produced a higher recovery of ergosterol and hericenone C as compared to the Maceration techniques. SCFE-CO
2
extracts were determined for their antioxidant activities. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of the extract from 70°C at 350 bar was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the extract obtained from 40°C at 200 bar. The results revealed the use of green technology supercritical fluid extraction using carbon dioxide to recover bioactive compounds from mushroom by-products and apply for high-value added products.
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