QTL-seq analysis identified the genomic regions of plant height and days to heading in high-latitude rice.

Introduction: Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most extensive crops in the world. China's Heilongjiang Province is the northernmost rice-growing region in the world. However, rice cultivars suitable for growth in low-latitude regions may not mature normally due to their distinct climate and short frost-free period. It is necessary to precisely determine the frost-free period for each region to make the best use of the rice growth stage so as to ensure the maturity and yield of different rice cultivars in Heilongjiang Province. The time span of the heading stage is a key parameter for evaluating the adaptability of a rice cultivar to a specific rice-growing region. Given the above facts, it is of high importance to study the associated genes and sites controlling days to heading (DH) and plant height (PH) of rice in Heilongjiang Province. Bulked segregant analysis (BSA) combined with high-throughput sequencing can effectively exclude interferences from background genomic differences, making it suitable for analyzing the associated sites of complex agronomic traits in early generations. Methods: In this study, an F3 segregating population was obtained by crossing two main cultivars that are grown under different temperatures and day-light conditions in Heilongjiang. Two pools of extreme phenotypes were built for the DH and PH of the population. For SNP and InDel variants obtained from whole-genome resequencing in the pools, an association analysis was performed using the Euclidean distance (ED) algorithm and the SNP/InDel index algorithm. Results: The intersection of SNP and InDel regions associated with the phenotypes was considered to obtain the final associated sites. After excluding interferences from the cloned genes on chromosomes 2 and 7, a total length of 6.34 Mb on chromosomes 1, 3, and 10 and 3.16 Mb on chromosomes 1 and 10 were left associated with PH and DH, respectively. Then, we performed a gene annotation analysis for candidate genes in the remaining regions using multiple genome annotation databases. Our research provides basic data for subsequent gene mapping and cloning. Discussion: By mining more genetic loci associated with the days to heading and plant height of rice, we may provide abundant genetic resources for refined molecular breeding in Heilongjiang Province.

Investigating Celastrol's Anti-DCM Targets and Mechanisms via Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation.

Methods: Data from TCMSP and GEO databases were utilized to identify targets for Celastrol on DCM. The relationship between the major targets and conventional glycolipid metabolism was obtained with Spearman correlation analysis. Experiments on animals were conducted utilizing healthy control (HC), low-dose Celastrol interventions (CL), and no intervention groups (NC), all of which had 8 SD rats in each group. To study alterations in signaling molecules, RT-PCR was performed. Results: There were 76 common targets and 5 major targets for Celastrol-DCM. Celastrol have been found to regulate AGE-RAGE, TNF, MAPK, TOLL-like receptors, insulin resistance, and other signaling pathways, and they are closely linked to adipocytokines, fatty acid metabolism, glycolipid biosynthesis, and glycosylphosphati-dylinositol biosynthesis on DCM. These five major targets have been found to regulate these pathways. Experiments on rats indicated that P38 MAPK was considerably elevated in the cardiac tissue from rats in the CL and NC groups compared to the HC group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.01). Significant differences were seen between the CL and NC groups in P38 MAPK levels, with a statistical significance level of less than 0.05. Conclusion: Celastrol may play a role in reversing energy remodeling, anti-inflammation, and oxidative stress via modulating p38 protein expression in the MAPK pathway, which have been shown in the treatment of DCM.

Genome-wide association studies of yield-related traits in high-latitude japonica rice.

BACKGROUND: Heilongjiang Province is a high-quality japonica rice cultivation area in China. One in ten bowls of Chinese rice is produced here. Increasing yield is one of the main aims of rice production in this area. However, yield is a complex quantitative trait composed of many factors. The purpose of this study was to determine how many genetic loci are associated with yield-related traits. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were performed on 450 accessions collected from northeast Asia, including Russia, Korea, Japan and Heilongjiang Province of China. These accessions consist of elite varieties and landraces introduced into Heilongjiang Province decade ago. RESULTS: After resequencing of the 450 accessions, 189,019 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were used for association studies by two different models, a general linear model (GLM) and a mixed linear model (MLM), examining four traits: days to heading (DH), plant height (PH), panicle weight (PW) and tiller number (TI). Over 25 SNPs were found to be associated with each trait. Among them, 22 SNPs were selected to identify candidate genes, and 2, 8, 1 and 11 SNPs were found to be located in 3' UTR region, intron region, coding region and intergenic region, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: All SNPs detected in this research may become candidates for further fine mapping and may be used in the molecular breeding of high-latitude rice.