Genomic insights into the evolution of Echinochloa species as weed and orphan crop.

As one of the great survivors of the plant kingdom, barnyard grasses (Echinochloa spp.) are the most noxious and common weeds in paddy ecosystems. Meanwhile, at least two Echinochloa species have been domesticated and cultivated as millets. In order to better understand the genomic forces driving the evolution of Echinochloa species toward weed and crop characteristics, we assemble genomes of three Echinochloa species (allohexaploid E. crus-galli and E. colona, and allotetraploid E. oryzicola) and re-sequence 737 accessions of barnyard grasses and millets from 16 rice-producing countries. Phylogenomic and comparative genomic analyses reveal the complex and reticulate evolution in the speciation of Echinochloa polyploids and provide evidence of constrained disease-related gene copy numbers in Echinochloa. A population-level investigation uncovers deep population differentiation for local adaptation, multiple target-site herbicide resistance mutations of barnyard grasses, and limited domestication of barnyard millets. Our results provide genomic insights into the dual roles of Echinochloa species as weeds and crops as well as essential resources for studying plant polyploidization, adaptation, precision weed control and millet improvements.

Age, Gender and Geographic Differences in Global Health Burden of Cirrhosis and Liver Cancer due to Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis.

Objective: Recently, Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) has become a major contributor to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Therefore, the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 was used to comprehensively analyze the global, regional, and national burden of cirrhosis and liver cancer due to NASH between 1990 and 2017. Methods: Data for cirrhosis and liver cancer due to NASH were extracted from the GBD study 2017. Socio-demographic Index (SDI) in 2017 was cited as indicators of socioeconomic status. ARIMA model was established to forecast the future health burden. Kruskal-Wallis test and Pearson linear correlation were adopted to evaluate the gender disparity and association with socioeconomic level. Results: From 1990-2017, the global disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) numbers of liver cancer due to NASH increased from 0.71 million to 1.46 million. The age-standardized DALYs rates of liver cancer due to NASH were negatively associated with SDI levels (r=0.-409, p<0.001). Geographically, Australasia experienced the largest increase in the burden of liver cancer due to NASH, with the age-standardized DALYs rate increasing by 143.54%. The global prevalence number of liver cancer due to NASH peaked at 60-64 years in males and at 65-69 years in females. Globally, the burden was heavier in males compared with females. Male-female-ratio of age-standardized DALYs rates in liver cancer due to NASH were positively related to SDI (r=0.303, P=0.011). Conclusion: The global burden of NASH-associated liver cancer has increased significantly since 1990, with age, gender and geographic disparity. Public awareness of liver diseases due to NASH should be emphasized.

Diverse genetic mechanisms underlie worldwide convergent rice feralization.

BACKGROUND: Worldwide feralization of crop species into agricultural weeds threatens global food security. Weedy rice is a feral form of rice that infests paddies worldwide and aggressively outcompetes cultivated varieties. Despite increasing attention in recent years, a comprehensive understanding of the origins of weedy crop relatives and how a universal feralization process acts at the genomic and molecular level to allow the rapid adaptation to weediness are still yet to be explored. RESULTS: We use whole-genome sequencing to examine the origin and adaptation of 524 global weedy rice samples representing all major regions of rice cultivation. Weed populations have evolved multiple times from cultivated rice, and a strikingly high proportion of contemporary Asian weed strains can be traced to a few Green Revolution cultivars that were widely grown in the late twentieth century. Latin American weedy rice stands out in having originated through extensive hybridization. Selection scans indicate that most genomic regions underlying weedy adaptations do not overlap with domestication targets of selection, suggesting that feralization occurs largely through changes at loci unrelated to domestication. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first investigation to provide detailed genomic characterizations of weedy rice on a global scale, and the results reveal diverse genetic mechanisms underlying worldwide convergent rice feralization.