Combining multiomics to analyze the molecular mechanism of hair follicle cycle change in cashmere goats from Inner Mongolia.

Sheep body size can directly reflect the growth rates and fattening rates of sheep and is also an important index for measuring the growth performance of meat sheep.Inner Mongolia Cashmere Goat is a local excellent breed of cashmere and meat dual-purpose, which is a typical heterogeneous indumentum. The hair follicles cycle through periods of vigorous growth (anagen), a regression caused by apoptosis (catagen), and relative rest (telogen). At present, it is not clear which genes affect the cycle transformation of hair follicles and unclear how proteins impact the creation and expansion of hair follicles.we using multi-omics joint analysis methodologies to investigated the possible pathways of transformation and apoptosis in goat hair follicles. The results showed that 917,1,187, and 716 proteins were specifically expressed in anagen, catagen andtelogen. The result of gene ontology (GO) annotation showed that differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) are in different growth cycle periods, and enriched GO items are mostly related to the transformation of cells and proteins. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment result indicated that the apoptosis process has a great impact on hair follicle's growth cycle. The results of the protein interaction network of differential proteins showed that the ribosomal protein family (RPL4, RPL8, RPS16, RPS18, RPS2, RPS27A, RPS3) was the core protein in the network. The results of combined transcriptome and proteomics analysis showed that there were 16,34, and 26 overlapped DEGs and DEPs in the comparison of anagen VS catagen, catagen VS telogen and anagen VS telogen, of which API5 plays an important role in regulating protein and gene expression levels. We focused on API5 and Ribosomal protein and found that API5 affected the apoptosis process of hair follicles, and ribosomal protein was highly expressed in the resting stage of hair follicles. They are both useful as molecular marker candidate genes to study hair follicle growth and apoptosis,and they both have an essential function in the cycle transition process of hair follicles. The results of this study may provide a theoretical basis for further research on the growth and development of hair follicles in Inner Mongolian Cashmere goats.

Activation of the NLRP3-CASP-1 inflammasome is restrained by controlling autophagy during Glaesserella parasuis infection.

Infection with Glaesserella parasuis, the primary pathogen behind Glässer's disease, is often associated with diverse clinical symptoms, including serofibrinous polyserositis, arthritis, and meningitis. Autophagy plays a dual role in bacterial infections, exerting either antagonistic or synergistic effects depending on the nature of the pathogen. Our previous studies have demonstrated that autophagy serves as a defense mechanism, combating inflammation and invasion caused by infection of highly virulent G. parasuis. However, the precise mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Pathogens exhibit distinct interactions with inflammasomes and autophagy processes. Herein, we explored the effect of autophagy on inflammasomes during G. parasuis infection. We found that G. parasuis infection triggers NLRP3-dependent pro-CASP-1-IL-18/IL-1ß processing and maturation pathway, resulting in increased release of IL-1ß and IL-18. Inhibition of autophagy enhances NLRP3 inflammasome activity, whereas stimulation of autophagy restricts it during G. parasuis infection. Furthermore, assembled NLRP3 inflammasomes undergo ubiquitination and recruit the autophagic adaptor, p62, facilitating their sequestration into autophagosomes during G. parasuis infection. These results suggest that the induction of autophagy mitigates inflammation by eliminating overactive NLRP3 inflammasomes during G. parasuis infection. Our research uncovers a mechanism whereby G. parasuis infection initiates inflammatory responses by promoting the assembly of the NLRP3 inflammasomes and activating NLRP3-CASP-1, both of which processes are downregulated by autophagy. This suggests that pharmacological manipulation of autophagy could be a promising approach to modulate G. parasuis-induced inflammatory responses.

Subchronic oral toxic effects of 2,4-dinitroaniline in wistar rats: A comprehensive toxicity evaluation.

2,4-dinitroaniline (2,4-D), a widely used dye intermediate, is one of the typical pollutants, and its potential health risks and toxicity are still largely unknown. To explore its subchronic oral toxicity, Wistar rats (equal numbers of males and females) were used as test animals, and a 90-day oral dosing experiment was conducted, divided into control group, low-dose group (0.055 mg/kg), medium-dose group (0.22 mg/kg), medium-high dose group (0.89 mg/kg), and high-dose group (3.56 mg/kg). The body weight data, clinical appearance, and drug reactions of each test rat within 90 days of dosing were recorded; morning urine samples were collected four times to test for eight urinary indicators; blood samples were collected to test for nineteen hematological indicators and sixteen biochemical indicators; tissue samples were collected for pathological analysis; moreover, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) was determined, and the benchmark dose method was used to support this determination and provide a statistical estimate of the dose corresponding. The results indicated that the chronic toxicity of 2,4-dinitroaniline showed certain gender differences, with the eyes, liver, and kidneys being the main potential target organs of toxicity. Moreover, the subchronic oral NOAEL for 2,4-dinitroaniline was determined to be 0.22 mg/kg body weight (0.22 mg/kg for males and 0.89 mg/kg for females), and a preliminary calculation of the safe exposure limit for human was 0.136 mg/kg. The research results greatly enriched the safety evaluation data of 2,4-dinitroaniline, contributing to a robust scientific foundation for the development of informed safety regulations and public health precautions.

Discovery of Antimicrobial Lysins from the "Dark Matter" of Uncharacterized Phages Using Artificial Intelligence.

The rapid rise of antibiotic resistance and slow discovery of new antibiotics have threatened global health. While novel phage lysins have emerged as potential antibacterial agents, experimental screening methods for novel lysins pose significant challenges due to the enormous workload. Here, the first unified software package, namely DeepLysin, is developed to employ artificial intelligence for mining the vast genome reservoirs ("dark matter") for novel antibacterial phage lysins. Putative lysins are computationally screened from uncharacterized Staphylococcus aureus phages and 17 novel lysins are randomly selected for experimental validation. Seven candidates exhibit excellent in vitro antibacterial activity, with LLysSA9 exceeding that of the best-in-class alternative. The efficacy of LLysSA9 is further demonstrated in mouse bloodstream and wound infection models. Therefore, this study demonstrates the potential of integrating computational and experimental approaches to expedite the discovery of new antibacterial proteins for combating increasing antimicrobial resistance.

Efficacy and side effects of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy vs. chemotherapy alone in patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma: A meta­analysis.

Recently, the treatment plan of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy was regarded as a promising treatment for patients with advanced gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (GC/GEJC). However, the efficacy and side effects of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy still lack evidence-based medical evidence to support. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the hot issue. By searching PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, any randomized clinical studies of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy in patients with advanced GC/GEJC met the inclusion criteria were included. The quality of the literature was evaluated and the data was extracted. A correlative software was also used to analyze the data and to draw a conclusion. After screening 14,015 studies, four studies were eligible for the meta-analysis. Compared with chemotherapy alone group, the overall survival (OS) rate was significantly longer. In programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) combined positive score (CPS) ≥1 subgroup and PD-L1 CPS ≥10 subgroup analyses, the results showed that the response rate (RR) and complete response rate (CR) were both higher in pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy group compared with chemotherapy alone group. There were not significant differences in the CR, the treatment-related adverse events, succumbed to drug-related events and succumbed to immune-mediated events between the two groups. However, the effect events such as the treatment-related adverse events led to discontinuation, the 3-5 treatment-related adverse events and the immune-mediated adverse events and infusion reactions were more common in pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy group. In conclusion, the current meta-analysis revealed that, in treating advanced GC/GEJC, pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy had improved therapeutic efficacies than chemotherapy alone, as evidenced by the significantly longer OS. Furthermore, the patients in PD-L1 CPS ≥1 subgroup and PD-L1 CPS ≥10 subgroup appeared to benefit from pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy treatment because of higher RR and CR. However, side effects such as the treatment-related adverse events leading to discontinuation, the 3-5 treatment-related adverse events, and immune-mediated adverse events and infusion reactions deserved more attention.

Comparison of genomic prediction methods for early growth traits of Inner Mongolia cashmere goats based on multi trait models.

Inner Mongolia cashmere goat is an excellent livestock breed formed through long-term natural selection and artificial breeding, and is currently a world-class dual-purpose breed producing cashmere and meat. Multi trait animal model is considered to significantly improve the accuracy of genetic evaluation in livestock and poultry, enabling indirect selection between traits. In this study, the pedigree, genotype, environment, and phenotypic records of early growth traits of Inner Mongolia cashmere goats were used to build multi trait animal model., Then three methods including ABLUP, GBLUP, and ssGBLUP wereused to estimate the genetic parameters and genomic breeding values of early growth traits (birth weight, weaning weight, average daily weight gain before weaning, and yearling weight). The accuracy and reliability of genomic estimated breeding value are further evaluated using the five fold cross validation method. The results showed that the heritability of birth weight estimated by three methods was 0.13-0.15, the heritability of weaning weight was 0.13-0.20, heritability of daily weight gain before weaning was 0.11-0.14, and the heritability of yearling weight was 0.09-0.14, all of which belonged to moderate to low heritability. There is a strong positive genetic correlation between weaning weight and daily weight gain before weaning, daily weight gain before weaning and yearling weight, with correlation coefficients of 0.77-0.79 and 0.56-0.67, respectively. The same pattern was found in phenotype correlation among traits. The accuracy of the estimated breeding values by ABLUP, GBLUP, and ssGBLUP methods for birth weight is 0.5047, 0.6694, and 0.7156, respectively; the weaning weight is 0.6207, 0.6456, and 0.7254, respectively; the daily weight gain before weaning was 0.6110, 0.6855, and 0.7357 respectively; and the yearling weight was 0.6209, 0.7155, and 0.7756, respectively. In summary, the early growth traits of Inner Mongolia cashmere goats belong to moderate to low heritability, and the speed of genetic improvement is relatively slow. The genetic improvement of other growth traits can be achieved through the selection of weaning weight. The ssGBLUP method has the highest accuracy and reliability in estimating genomic breeding value of early growth traits in Inner Mongolia cashmere goats, and is significantly higher than that from ABLUP method, indicating that it is the best method for genomic breeding of early growth weight in Inner Mongolia cashmere goats.

Characterization of NMCR-3, NMCR-4 and NMCR-5, three novel non-mobile colistin resistance determinants: Implications for MCR-3, MCR-7, and MCR-5 progenitors, respectively.

In this study, the progenitors of MCR-3, MCR-7 and MCR-5, namely NMCR-3, NMCR-4 and NMCR-5, were firstly discovered and indicating Aeromonas was a natural reservoir for MCR-3 and MCR-7. Furthermore, different evolutionary models for MCR-3, MCR-7 and MCR-5 were proposed.

A review and new perspective on oral bacteriophages: manifestations in the ecology of oral diseases.

Objective: To explore the manifestations of bacteriophages in different oral disease ecologies, including periodontal diseases, dental caries, endodontic infections, and oral cancer, as well as to propel phage therapy for safer and more effective clinical application in the field of dentistry. Methods: In this literature review, we outlined interactions between bacteriophages, bacteria and even oral cells in the oral ecosystem, especially in disease states. We also analyzed the current status and future prospects of phage therapy in the perspective of different oral diseases. Results: Various oral bacteriophages targeting at periodontal pathogens as Porphyromonas gingivalis, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Treponema denticola and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, cariogenic pathogen Streptococcus mutans, endodontic pathogen Enterococcus faecalis were predicted or isolated, providing promising options for phage therapy. In the realm of oral cancer, aside from displaying tumor antigens or participating in tumor-targeted therapies, phage-like particle vaccines demonstrated the potential to prevent oral infections caused by human papillomaviruses (HPVs) associated with head-and-neck cancers. Conclusion: Due to their intricate interactions with bacteria and oral cells, bacteriophages are closely linked to the progression and regression of diverse oral diseases. And there is an urgent need for research to explore additional possibilities of bacteriophages in the management of oral diseases.

Genetic diversity and population structure in five Inner Mongolia cashmere goat populations using whole-genome genotyping.

OBJECTIVE: As a charismatic species, cashmere goats have rich genetic resources. In the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, there are three cashmere goat varieties named and approved by the state. These goats are renowned for their high cashmere production and superior cashmere quality. Therefore, it is vitally important to protect their genetic resources as they will serve as breeding material for developing new varieties in the future. METHODS: Three breeds including Inner Mongolia cashmere goats (IMCG), Hanshan White cashmere goats (HS), and Ujimqin white cashmere goats (WZMQ) were studied. IMCG were of three types: Aerbas (AEBS), Erlangshan (ELS), and Alashan (ALS). Nine DNA samples were collected for each population, and they were genomically re-sequenced to obtain high-depth data. The genetic diversity parameters of each population were estimated to determine selection intensity. Principal component analysis, phylogenetic tree construction and genetic differentiation parameter estimation were performed to determine genetic relationships among populations. RESULTS: Samples from the 45 individuals from the five goat populations were sequenced, and 30,601,671 raw single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) obtained. Then, variant calling was conducted using the reference genome, and 17,214,526 SNPs were retained after quality control. Individual sequencing depth of individuals ranged from 21.13× to 46.18×, with an average of 28.5×. In the AEBS, locus polymorphism (79.28) and expected heterozygosity (0.2554) proportions were the lowest, and the homologous consistency ratio (0.1021) and average inbreeding coefficient (0.1348) were the highest, indicating that this population had strong selection intensity. Conversely, ALS and WZMQ selection intensity was relatively low. Genetic distance between HS and the other four populations was relatively high, and genetic exchange existed among the other four populations. CONCLUSION: The Inner Mongolia cashmere goat (AEBS type) population has a relatively high selection intensity and a low genetic diversity. The IMCG (ALS type) and WZMQ populations had relatively low selection intensity and high genetic diversity. The genetic distance between HS and the other four populations was relatively high, with a moderate degree of differentiation. Overall, these genetic variations provide a solid foundation for resource identification of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region cashmere goats in the future.

Evaluation of Probiotic Properties and Safety of Lactobacillus helveticus LH10 Derived from Vinegar through Comprehensive Analysis of Genotype and Phenotype.

The probiotic potential of Lactobacillus helveticus LH10, derived from vinegar Pei, a brewing mixture, was assessed through genotype and phenotype analyses. The assembled genome was comprised of 1,810,276 bp and predicted a total of 2044 coding sequences (CDSs). Based on the whole genome sequence analysis, two bacteriocin gene clusters were identified, while no pathogenic genes were detected. In in vitro experiments, L. helveticus LH10 exhibited excellent tolerance to simulated gastrointestinal fluid, a positive hydrophobic interaction with xylene, and good auto-aggregation properties. Additionally, this strain demonstrated varying degrees of resistance to five antibiotics, strong antagonistic activity against four tested pathogens, and no hemolytic activity. Therefore, L. helveticus LH10 holds great promise as a potential probiotic candidate deserving further investigation for its beneficial effects on human health.

Accuracy of Genomic prediction for fleece traits in Inner Mongolia Cashmere goats.

The fleece traits are important economic traits of goats. With the reduction of sequencing and genotyping cost and the improvement of related technologies, genomic selection for goats has become possible. The research collect pedigree, phenotype and genotype information of 2299 Inner Mongolia Cashmere goats (IMCGs) individuals. We estimate fixed effects, and compare the estimates of variance components, heritability and genomic predictive ability of fleece traits in IMCGs when using the pedigree based Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (ABLUP), Genomic BLUP (GBLUP) or single-step GBLUP (ssGBLUP). The fleece traits considered are cashmere production (CP), cashmere diameter (CD), cashmere length (CL) and fiber length (FL). It was found that year of production, sex, herd and individual ages had highly significant effects on the four fleece traits (P < 0.01). All of these factors should be considered when the genetic parameters of fleece traits in IMCGs are evaluated. The heritabilities of FL, CL, CP and CD with ABLUP, GBLUP and ssGBLUP methods were 0.26 ~ 0.31, 0.05 ~ 0.08, 0.15 ~ 0.20 and 0.22 ~ 0.28, respectively. Therefore, it can be inferred that the genetic progress of CL is relatively slow. The predictive ability of fleece traits in IMCGs with GBLUP (56.18% to 69.06%) and ssGBLUP methods (66.82% to 73.70%) was significantly higher than that of ABLUP (36.73% to 41.25%). For the ssGBLUP method is significantly (29% ~ 33%) higher than that with ABLUP, and which is slightly (4% ~ 14%) higher than that of GBLUP. The ssGBLUP will be as an superiors method for using genomic selection of fleece traits in Inner Mongolia Cashmere goats.

Identification and validation of cuproptosis-related genes for diagnosis and therapy in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

In recent years, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a more serious public health issue worldwide. This study strived to investigate the molecular mechanism of pathogenesis of NAFLD and explore promising diagnostic and therapeutic targets for NAFLD. Raw data from GSE130970 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. We used the dataset to analyze the expression levels of cuproptosis-related genes in NAFLD patients and healthy controls to identify the differentially expressed cuproptosis-related genes (DECRGs). The relationship and potential mechanism between DECRGs and clinicopathological factors were examined by enrichment analysis and two consensus clustering methods. We screened key DECRGs based on Random Forest (RF), and then verified the key DECRGs in NAFLD patients, high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice, and palmitic acid-induced AML12 cells. ROC analysis showed good diagnostic function of DECRGs in normal and NAFLD liver tissue. Two consensus clusters indicated the important role of cuproptosis in the development of NAFLD. We screened for key DECRGs (DLD, DLAT) based on RF and found a close relationship between the DECRGs and clinicopathological factors. We collected clinical blood samples to verify the differences in gene expression levels by qPCR. In addition, we further verified the expression levels of DLD and DLAT in HFD mice and AML12 cells, which showed the same results. This study provides a novel perspective on the pathogenesis of NAFLD. We identified two cuproptosis-related genes that are closely related to NAFLD. These genes may play a significant role in the molecular pathogenesis of NAFLD, which may be useful to make progress in the diagnosis and treatment of NAFLD.

LPCAT3 exacerbates early brain injury and ferroptosis after subarachnoid hemorrhage in rats.

AIMS: Lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 3 (LPCAT3) is known to play a pivotal role in lipid metabolism, but its role in the early brain injury (EBI) following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) remains unclear. This study provides insights into LPCAT3 expression alterations and functional implications in EBI following SAH. METHODS: SAH models of adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were established by intravascular perforation. Lentivirus vectors were administered by intracerebroventricular injection (i.c.v.) to either induce LPCAT3 overexpression or knockdown 14 days before SAH induction. Western blot, immunofluorescence, Nissl staining, MDA detection, ROS detection, iron content detection, and short-term and long-term neurobehavioral tests were performed to investigate the effects of regulated-LPCAT3 after SAH. RESULTS: LPCAT3 levels were found to be significantly elevated in SAH. Suppression of LPCAT3 expression via shRNA improved oxidative stress, reduced brain edema, alleviated behavioral and cognitive deficits following SAH and decreased neuronal death, while upregulating LPCAT3 expression showed opposing effects. CONCLUSION: LPCAT3 is involved in SAH-induced EBI and associated with ferroptosis. Our findings provide a referential basis for potential therapeutic interventions aimed at alleviating EBI following SAH.

Association Between Long-Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and the Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment in a Chinese Urban Area: A Case-Control Study.

Background: As a prodromal stage of dementia, significant emphasis has been placed on the identification of modifiable risks of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Research has indicated a correlation between exposure to air pollution and cognitive function in older adults. However, few studies have examined such an association among the MCI population inChina. Objective: We aimed to explore the association between air pollution exposure and MCI risk from the Hubei Memory and Aging Cohort Study. Methods: We measured four pollutants from 2015 to 2018, 3 years before the cognitive assessment of the participants. Logistic regression models were employed to calculate odds ratios (ORs) to assess the relationship between air pollutants and MCI risk. Results: Among 4,205 older participants, the adjusted ORs of MCI risk for the highest quartile of PM2.5, PM10, O3, and SO2 were 1.90 (1.39, 2.62), 1.77 (1.28, 2.47), 0.56 (0.42, 0.75), and 1.18 (0.87, 1.61) respectively, compared with the lowest quartile. Stratified analyses indicated that such associations were found in both males and females, but were more significant in older participants. Conclusions: Our findings are consistent with the growing evidence suggesting that air pollution increases the risk of mild cognitive decline, which has considerable guiding significance for early intervention of dementia in the older population. Further studies in other populations and broader geographical areas are warranted to validate these findings.

ESKtides: a comprehensive database and mining method for ESKAPE phage-derived antimicrobial peptides.

'Superbugs' have received increasing attention from researchers, such as ESKAPE bacteria (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter spp.), which directly led to about 1 270 000 death cases in 2019. Recently, phage peptidoglycan hydrolases (PGHs)-derived antimicrobial peptides were proposed as new antibacterial agents against multidrug-resistant bacteria. However, there is still a lack of methods for mining antimicrobial peptides based on phages or phage PGHs. Here, by using a collection of 6809 genomes of ESKAPE isolates and corresponding phages in public databases, based on a unified annotation process of all the genomes, PGHs were systematically identified, from which peptides were mined. As a result, a total of 12 067 248 peptides with high antibacterial activities were respectively determined. A user-friendly tool was developed to predict the phage PGHs-derived antimicrobial peptides from customized genomes, which also allows the calculation of peptide phylogeny, physicochemical properties, and secondary structure. Finally, a user-friendly and intuitive database, ESKtides (http://www.phageonehealth.cn:9000/ESKtides), was designed for data browsing, searching and downloading, which provides a rich peptide library based on ESKAPE prophages and phages. Database URL:  10.1093/database/baae022.

Neuroinvasive virus facilitates viral replication by employing lipid droplets to reduce arachidonic acid-induced ferroptosis.

Lipids have been previously implicated in the lifecycle of neuroinvasive viruses. However, the role of lipids in programmed cell death and the relationship between programmed cell death and lipid droplets (LDs) in neuroinvasive virus infection remains unclear. Here, we found that the infection of neuroinvasive virus, such as rabies virus and encephalomyocarditis virus could enhance the LD formation in N2a cells, and decreasing LDs production by targeting diacylglycerol acyltransferase could suppress viral replication. The lipidomics analysis revealed that arachidonic acid (AA) was significantly increased after reducing LD formation by restricting diacylglycerol acyltransferase, and AA was further demonstrated to induce ferroptosis to inhibit neuroinvasive virus replication. Moreover, lipid peroxidation and viral replication inhibition could be significantly alleviated by a ferroptosis inhibitor, ferrostatin-1, indicating that AA affected neuroinvasive virus replication mainly through inducing ferroptosis. Furthermore, AA was demonstrated to activate the acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 4-lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 3-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase axis to induce ferroptosis. Our findings highlight novel cross-talks among viral infection, LDs, and ferroptosis for the first time, providing a potential target for antiviral drug development.

Impacts of reference population size and methods on the accuracy of genomic prediction for fleece traits in Inner Mongolia Cashmere Goats.

Introduction: Inner Mongolia Cashmere Goats (IMCGs) are famous for its cashmere quality and it's a unique genetic resource in China. Therefore, it is necessary to use genomic selection to improve the accuracy of selection for fleece traits in Inner Mongolia cashmere goats. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of methods (GBLUP, BayesA, BayesB, Bayesian LASSO, Bayesian Ridge Region) and the reference population size on accuracy of genomic selection in IMCGs. Methods: This study fully utilizes the pedigree and phenotype records of fleece traits in 2255 individuals, genotype of 50794 SNPs after quality control, and environmental data to perform genomic selection of fleece traits. Then GBLUP and Bayes series methods (BayesA, BayesB, Bayesian LASSO, Bayesian Ridge Region) were used to perform estimates of genetic parameter and genomic breeding value. And the accuracy of genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) is evaluated using the five-fold cross validation method. And the analysis of variance and multiple comparison methods were used to determine the best method for genomic selection in fleece traits of IMCGs. Further the different reference population sizes (500, 1000, 1500, and 2000) was set. Then the best method was applied to estimate genome breeding values, and evaluate the impact of reference population sizes on the accuracy of genome selection for fleece traits in IMCGs. Results: It was found that the genomic prediction accuracy for each fleece trait in IMCGs by GBLUP method is highest, and it is significantly higher than that obtained by Bayesian method. The accuracy of breeding value estimation is 58.52% -68.49%. Also, it was found that the size of the reference population has a significant impact on the accuracy of genome prediction of fleece traits. When the reference population size is 2000, the accuracy of genomic prediction for each fleece trait is significantly higher than other levels, with accuracy of 55.47% -67.87%. This provides a theoretical basis for design a reasonable genome selection plan for Inner Mongolia cashmere goats in the later stag.

Genetic mapping reveals new loci and alleles for flowering time and plant height using the double round-robin population of barley.

Flowering time and plant height are two critical determinants of yield potential in barley (Hordeum vulgare). Despite their role in plant physiological regulation, a complete overview of the genetic complexity of flowering time and plant height regulation in barley is still lacking. Using a double round-robin population originated from the crossings of 23 diverse parental inbred lines, we aimed to determine the variance components in the regulation of flowering time and plant height in barley as well as to identify new genetic variants by single and multi-population QTL analyses and allele mining. Despite similar genotypic variance, we observed higher environmental variance components for plant height than flowering time. Furthermore, we detected new QTLs for flowering time and plant height. Finally, we identified a new functional allelic variant of the main regulatory gene Ppd-H1. Our results show that the genetic architecture of flowering time and plant height might be more complex than reported earlier and that a number of undetected, small effect, or low-frequency genetic variants underlie the control of these two traits.

Drought may exacerbate dryland soil inorganic carbon loss under warming climate conditions.

Low moisture conditions result in substantially more soil inorganic carbon (SIC) than soil organic carbon (SOC) in drylands. However, whether and how changes in moisture affect the temperature response of SIC in drylands are poorly understood. Here, we report that the temperature sensitivity of SIC dissolution increases but that of SOC decomposition decreases with increasing natural aridity from 30 dryland sites along a 4,500 km aridity gradient in northern China. To directly test the effects of moisture changes alone, a soil moisture control experiment also revealed opposite moisture effects on the temperature sensitivities of SIC and SOC. Moreover, we found that the temperature sensitivity of SIC was primarily regulated by pH and base cations, whereas that of SOC was mainly regulated by physicochemical protection along the aridity gradient. Given the overall increases in aridity in a warming world, our findings highlight that drought may exacerbate dryland soil carbon loss from SIC under warming.