Moreover, the majority of studies accomplished so far did not explore possible associations of certain mutations with ethnic origin of patients. By now the only exception is the study of Karelian population showing the absence of typical Finnish mutations in the region that borders on Finland. It can be concluded that the important primary research partly characterizing the mutation spectrum in FH patients both in the European and Siberian parts of Russia has been done. However, it seems likely that the most interesting and comprehensive genetic studies of FH in Russia, concerning various mutations in different genes and the variety of ethnic groups in this multi-national country, are still to be undertaken.Chinese local cattle with a high level of genetic diversity mainly originate from two subspecies; the cattle in northern China are primarily Bos Taurus, and the cattle in southern China are primarily Bos indicus. Cattle from southern China are characterized by a specific phenotype and adapted to the local environment. This study explored the genetic diversity, degree of admixture, and selection signature in eight local cattle breeds in southern China. The lowest level of heterozygosity was found in Hainan and Nandan cattle from Hainan and Guangxi province, respectively, whereas the highest level of heterozygosity was detected in Zhaotong cattle from Yunnan province. A neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree analysis clearly separated Lufeng cattle from other breeds, whereas Leiqiong and Hainan cattle have some crossover. Based on linkage disequilibrium-filtered single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the admixture analysis revealed two clusters corresponding to the taurine and indicine cattle lineages, and the locamong the cattle breeds from southern China and the possible cause of difference in breed-specific characteristics. Selection signature analysis identified a few candidate SNPs and genes related to certain important traits of these cattle. In general, our results provide valuable insights into the genetic basis of specific traits under selection in certain local cattle breeds.Melting mountainous snowfields are populated by extremophilic microorganisms. An alga causing orange snow above timberline in the High Tatra Mountains (Poland) was characterised using multiple methods examining its ultrastructure, genetics, life cycle, photosynthesis and ecophysiology. Based on light and electron microscopy and ITS2 rDNA, the species was identified as Chloromonas krienitzii (Chlorophyceae). Recently, the taxon was described from Japan. However, cellular adaptations to its harsh environment and details about the life cycle were so far unknown. In this study, the snow surface population consisted of egg-shaped cysts containing large numbers of lipid bodies filled presumably with the secondary carotenoid astaxanthin. The outer, spiked cell wall was shed during cell maturation. Before this developmental step, the cysts resembled a different snow alga, Chloromonas brevispina. The remaining, long-lasting smooth cell wall showed a striking UV-induced blue autofluorescence, indicating the presence ofdistribution in the Northern Hemisphere.The genetics underlying Cyto-Nuclear Incompatibility (CNI) was studied in Pelargonium interspecific hybrids. We created hybrids of 12 closely related crop wild relatives (CWR) with the ornamental P. × hortorum. Ten of the resulting 12 (F1) interspecific hybrids segregate for chlorosis suggesting biparental plastid inheritance. The segregation ratios of the interspecific F2 populations show nuclear interactions of one, two, or three nuclear genes regulating plastid function dependent on the parents. We further validated that biparental inheritance of plastids is common in section Ciconium, using diagnostic PCR primers. read more Our results pave the way for using the diverse species from section Ciconium, each with its own set of characteristics, as novel sources of desired breeding traits for P. × hortorum cultivars.Several oligosaccharide fragments derived from plant cell walls activate plant immunity and behave as typical damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). Some of them also behave as negative regulators of growth and development, and due to their antithetic effect on immunity and growth, their concentrations, activity, time of formation, and localization is critical for the so-called „growth-defense trade-off.“ Moreover, like in animals, over accumulation of DAMPs in plants provokes deleterious physiological effects and may cause hyper-immunity if the cellular mechanisms controlling their homeostasis fail. Recently, a mechanism has been discovered that controls the activity of two well-known plant DAMPs, oligogalacturonides (OGs), released upon hydrolysis of homogalacturonan (HG), and cellodextrins (CDs), products of cellulose breakdown. The potential homeostatic mechanism involves specific oxidases belonging to the family of berberine bridge enzyme-like (BBE-like) proteins. Oxidation of OGs and CDs not only inactivates their DAMP activity, but also makes them a significantly less desirable food source for microbial pathogens. The evidence that oxidation and inactivation of OGs and CDs may be a general strategy of plants for controlling the homeostasis of DAMPs is discussed. The possibility exists of discovering additional oxidative and/or inactivating enzymes targeting other DAMP molecules both in the plant and in animal kingdoms.Raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs) are major soluble carbohydrates in soybean seeds that cannot be digested by human and other monogastric animals. Hence, a major goal is to reduce RFO levels to improve the nutritional quality of soybean. In this study, we utilized a dual gRNAs CRISPR/Cas9 system to induce knockouts in two soybean galactinol synthase (GOLS) genes, GmGOLS1A and its homeolog GmGOLS1B. Genotyping of T0 plants showed that the construct design was efficient in inducing various deletions in the target sites or sequences spanning the two target sites of both GmGOLS1A and GmGOLS1B genes. A subset of induced alleles was successfully transferred to progeny and, at the T2 generation, we identified null segregants of single and double mutant genotypes without off-target induced mutations. The seed carbohydrate analysis of double mutant lines showed a reduction in the total RFO content of soybean seed from 64.7 mg/g dry weight to 41.95 mg/g dry weight, a 35.2% decrease. On average, the stachyose content, the most predominant RFO in soybean seeds, decreased by 35.4% in double mutant soybean, while the raffinose content increased by 41.7%. A slight decrease in verbascose content was also observed in mutant lines. Aside from changes in soluble carbohydrate content, some mutant lines also exhibited increased protein and fat contents. link2 Otherwise, no difference in seed weight, seed germination, plant development and morphology was observed in the mutants. Our findings indicate that GmGOLS1A and GmGOLS1B contribute to the soybean oligosaccharide profile through RFO biosynthesis pathways, and are promising targets for future investigation, as well as crop improvement efforts. Our results also demonstrate the potential in using elite soybean cultivars for transformation and targeted genome editing.Recombinantly produced proteins are indispensable tools for medical applications. Since the majority of them are glycoproteins, their N-glycosylation profiles are major determinants for their activity, structural properties and safety. For therapeutical applications, a glycosylation pattern adapted to product and treatment requirements is advantageous. Physcomitrium patens (Physcomitrella, moss) is able to perform highly homogeneous complex-type N-glycosylation. Additionally, it has been glyco-engineered to eliminate plant-specific sugar residues by knock-out of the β1,2-xylosyltransferase and α1,3-fucosyltransferase genes (Δxt/ft). Furthermore, Physcomitrella meets wide-ranging biopharmaceutical requirements such as GMP compliance, product safety, scalability and outstanding possibilities for precise genome engineering. However, all plants, in contrast to mammals, lack the capability to perform N-glycan sialylation. Since sialic acids are a common terminal modification on human N-glycans, the property to pertein.The term microalga refers to various unicellular and photosynthetic organisms representing a polyphyletic group. It gathers numerous species, which can be found in cyanobacteria (i.e., Arthrospira) as well as in distinct eukaryotic groups, such as Chlorophytes (i.e., Chlamydomonas or Chlorella) and Heterokonts (i.e., diatoms). link3 This phylogenetic diversity results in an extraordinary variety of metabolic pathways, offering large possibilities for the production of natural compounds like pigments or lipids that can explain the ever-growing interest of industrials for these organisms since the middle of the last century. More recently, several species have received particular attention as biofactories for the production of recombinant proteins. Indeed, microalgae are easy to grow, safe and cheap making them attractive alternatives as heterologous expression systems. In this last scope of applications, the glycosylation capacity of these organisms must be considered as this post-translational modification of proteins impacts their structural and biological features. Although these mechanisms are well known in various Eukaryotes like mammals, plants or insects, only a few studies have been undertaken for the investigation of the protein glycosylation in microalgae. Recently, significant progresses have been made especially regarding protein N-glycosylation, while O-glycosylation remain poorly known. This review aims at summarizing the recent data in order to assess the state-of-the art knowledge in glycosylation processing in microalgae.Leaf senescence is regulated by a large number of internal and environmental factors. Here, we report that AtUSR1 (U-box Senescence Related 1) which encodes a plant Ring/U-box protein, is involved in age-dependent and dark-induced leaf senescence in Arabidopsis. Expression of AtUSR1 gene in leaves was up-regulated in darkness and during aging. Plants of usr1, an AtUSR1 gene knock-down mutant, showed a significant delay in age-dependent and dark-induced leaf senescence and the delayed senescence phenotype was rescued when the AtUSR1 gene was transferred back to the mutant plants. Meanwhile, overexpression of AtUSR1 caused accelerated leaf senescence. Furthermore, the role of AtUSR1 in regulating leaf senescence is related to MYC2-mediuated jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathway. MeJA treatments promoted the accumulation of AtUSR1 transcripts and this expression activation was dependent on the function of MYC2, a key transcription factor in JA signaling. Dual-luciferase assay results indicated that MYC2 promoted the expression of AtUSR1. Overexpression of AtUSR1 in myc2 mutant plants showed precocious senescence, while myc2 mutation alone caused a delay in leaf senescence, suggesting that AtUSR1 functions downstream to MYC2 in the JA signaling pathway in promoting leaf senescence.Anthocyanins are responsible for the red pigmentation in the peel of apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) fruit. Relatively few studies have investigated anthocyanins at the posttranscriptional level. MicroRNAs play an important role in plant growth and development by regulating gene expression at the posttranscriptional level. In this study, mdm-miR828 showed a relatively low expression level during the rapid fruit coloration period. However, the mdm-miR828 expression level increased in the late fruit coloration stage. Overexpression of mdm-miR828 inhibited anthocyanin synthesis in apple and Arabidopsis. Dual-luciferase and yeast one-hybrid assays showed that MdMYB1 is capable of binding to the promoter of mdm-MIR828b to promote its expression. The results indicate that mdm-miR828 is involved in a feedback regulatory mechanism associated with anthocyanin accumulation in apple. In addition, mdm-miR828 is involved in the inhibition of anthocyanin accumulation in response to high temperature.