Search Results (7,795)

Forest type strongly influences soil microbial community composition and associated carbon cycling, yet its influence on microbial functional traits remains poorly understood. In this study, metagenomics sequencing was used to investigate soil microbial communities and carbon metabolism genes across three forest types: deciduous broadleaf (DBF), mixed coniferous–broadleaf (CBMF), and coniferous forest (CF) at two soil depths (0–20 cm and 20–40 cm) on Lushan Mountain in subtropical China. The results showed that CF exhibited higher bacterial diversity and a distinct microbial composition, with an increase in Actinomycetota and Bacteroidota and a decrease in Acidobacteriota and Pseudomonadota. The Calvin cycle was the dominant carbon fixation pathway in all forests, while the relative abundance of secondary pathways (i.e., the 3-hydroxypropionate bi-cycle and reductive citrate cycle) varied significantly with forest type. Key carbon fixation genes (sucD, pckA) were more abundant in CF and CBMF, with higher levels of rpiA/B and ackA in DBF. Functional profiling further indicated that CF soils, especially in the surface layer, were enriched in glycoside hydrolases (GHs) and carbohydrate esterases (CEs), while CBMF showed a greater potential for starch and lignin degradation. Multivariate statistical analyses identified soil available phosphorus (AP) and pH as primary factors shaping microbial community variation, with AP emerging as being the dominant regulator of carbon-related functional gene abundance. Overall, the prevalence of these distinct genetic potentials across forest types underscores how vegetation composition may shape microbial functional traits, thereby influencing the stability and dynamics of the soil carbon pool in forest ecosystem. Full article

Capsicum pubescens (rocoto) is an Andean domesticate with notable agronomic and nutraceutical potential, yet it remains underrepresented in chili pepper breeding programs. In this study, 78 accessions from the Peruvian Andes were evaluated in a single field environment during the 2024 growing season for 28 variables spanning plant architecture, phenology and yield, color (CIELAB), weight, fruit morphology, physicochemical variables, and functional phytochemicals, including total phenolics, carotenoids, ascorbic acid, capsaicinoids, and antioxidant activity (FRAP, DPPH, ABTS). Descriptive analyses revealed broad phenotypic diversity in key variables such as yield and bioactive compounds. Spearman correlations uncovered a clear modular structure, with strong within-domain associations across morphological, chromatic, and biochemical variables, and statistically significant but low-magnitude cross-domain associations (e.g., fruit length with pungency, redness with total phenolics). Principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering resolved three differentiated phenotypic profiles: (i) low-pungency accessions with high soluble solids and varied fruit colors; (ii) highly pungent materials with elevated antioxidant capacity; and (iii) large, red-fruited accessions with considerable carotenoid content and high moisture. This multivariate architecture revealed weak cross-block correlations among agronomic, color, and functional traits, enabling selection of promising accessions combining desirable agronomic attributes and favorable bioactive profiles in specific accessions. These results provide a quantitative foundation for future breeding strategies in C. pubescens, opening concrete opportunities to develop improved cultivars that simultaneously meet productivity and functional quality criteria. Full article

This study examines whether Drawmetrics (DM), an expressive–semantic personality system, can be linked with the Five-Factor Model (Big Five) through an embedding-based mapping approach and network psychometric methods. A total of 185 participants completed both the DM assessment and the IPIP-NEO 120 Big Five inventory. DM term outputs were embedded using a miniLM sentence-transformer and aggregated into 30 facet composites, with six composites per domain. Big Five facet composites were extracted from standardized reports and harmonized to canonical facet names. Analyses focused on the overlap sample (N = 148) with valid scores on both instruments. DM composites demonstrated strong internal structure and high stability indices. Substantial semantic-space alignment was observed between DM term language and Big Five facet language, supporting interpretable linking. However, person-level correlations between DM and Big Five domains were modest (mean |r| ≈ 0.07; Spearman similar), with the largest facet-level association at |r| ≈ 0.26. DM appears to represent a coherent expressive–semantic trait space that is related to, but not isomorphic with, Big Five traits. These findings support a linking rather than equivalence interpretation and highlight the need for future research on scaling, reliability, range restriction, and criterion validation. Full article

The technological properties of durum wheat grain are determined by prolamins (gliadins and glutenins). Information on the allelic composition of key loci remains incomplete despite existing global studies examining prolamin variability. This highlighted the need to study these traits in durum wheat in Kazakhstan. The effects of specific gliadin components with high- and low-molecular-weight glutenin fractions on gluten quality are also not fully clarified. This study aimed to characterise allelic diversity at prolamin-coding loci and evaluate associated grain quality traits. Using native and denaturing SDS-electrophoresis, 181 tetraploid wheat accessions from Kazakhstan, an International germplasm collection, and 26 breeding lines were analysed for allelic variation and associations with protein content, gluten content, gluten index, and SDS-sedimentation. The γ45 gliadin component and Glu-A3a allele were positively associated with SDS-sedimentation and gluten index, while Glu-B3b had a negative effect. Distinct prolamin profiles were observed among accessions from different ecological and geographical locations. These results support the selection of superior durum wheat genotypes and enable the identification of favourable allele combinations at the Gli-1, Gli-2, Glu-1, and Glu-3 loci in cultivars from Kazakhstan. Comparison with global tetraploid wheat germplasm collections demonstrates unique genetic diversity in genotypes, providing a valuable basis for breeding programs aimed at improving grain and gluten quality in durum wheat in Kazakhstan and Central Asian countries. Full article

PIN-LIKES (PILS) auxin transport genes play key roles in plant development, but their functions and molecular mechanism in soybean yield remain unclear. Here, we characterized the 44-member soybean GmPILS genes via comprehensive analyses. Phylogenetic analysis classified GmPILS into three subfamilies, with most proteins being hydrophobic, stable, and membrane-localized. Chromosomal distribution showed random scattering across 17 chromosomes, with gene duplication driving family expansion. Expression profiling identified GmPILS36 and GmPILS40 as seed-specific and differentially expressed between cultivated Suinong14 (SN14) and wild ZYD00006 (ZYD06) soybeans. Population genetic analyses revealed GmPILS40 experienced a domestication bottleneck without yield-related superior haplotypes, while GmPILS36 underwent selection during landrace-to-improved variety domestication. A coding region CC/TT natural variation in GmPILS36 (S/A substitution) was significantly associated with seed weight per plant and 100-seed weight, with the TT genotype conferring superior traits. This study provides insights into GmPILS genes’ evolution and identifies GmPILS36 as an important candidate gene for further functional study and investigation of the molecular mechanisms regulating soybean yield. Full article

Background: Rowing performance in youth athletes is strongly influenced by anthropometric characteristics, body composition, and limb proportions; however, the combined contribution of these factors across developmental stages remains insufficiently understood. This study investigated the relationships between key anthropometric variables and ergometer performance in a multinational cohort of young rowers. Methods: A total of 194 athletes (48 females, 146 males) from ten countries participated. Based on age and sex, participants were categorized into junior female (JF), junior male (JM), adult female (AF), and adult male (AM) groups. Body height, body mass, body fat (F%), relative muscle mass (M%), limb lengths, and body surface area (BSA) were measured. Rowing performance was assessed via maximal 2000 m ergometer trials. Results: Males outperformed females across all age groups (p < 0.001). Performance showed strong positive correlations with body height (r = 0.673, p = 0.003), body mass (r = 0.724, p = 0.005), arm span (r = 0.681, p = 0.002), lower-limb length (r = 0.394, p = 0.004), relative muscle mass (39.9 ± 5.2%; r = 0.531, p < 0.001), and especially BSA (1.94 ± 0.19 m²; r = 0.739, p < 0.001). Relative body fat was negatively associated with performance (17.6 ± 6.9%; r = −0.465, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Findings indicate that rowing performance in youth athletes reflects multidimensional anthropometric configurations rather than isolated traits, characterized primarily by the combined contribution of body surface area, relative muscle mass, and segmental body dimensions. From a practical perspective, higher-performing athletes typically exhibited body surface area values approaching or exceeding ~1.90 m² and relative muscle mass above ~40%, suggesting these ranges as indicative reference benchmarks rather than fixed selection thresholds. Integrating anthropometric profiling with physiological assessment may enhance early talent identification and support individualized training strategies in competitive youth rowing. Full article

Background: Functional diversity of aquatic macrophytes can provide mechanistic insight into community assembly beyond taxonomic diversity metrics. Aims: We tested whether functional diversity indices can help infer the dominant processes shaping macrophyte communities along hydromorphological and physicochemical gradients, and whether these signals remain interpretable after accounting for species richness. Methods: We surveyed aquatic macrophytes in the Dnipro–Orilsky Nature Reserve (Ukraine) during four field campaigns in 2024 (453 sampling sites), measured key environmental characteristics, and calculated functional diversity indices from plant trait data. Results: The indices showed distinct responses consistent with environmental filtering, dispersal limitation related to reduced hydrological connectivity, and biotic interactions. Anthropogenic degradation was associated with functional simplification and shifts toward opportunistic trait syndromes. Conclusions: A complementary set of functional diversity indices can distinguish major community assembly mechanisms in macrophyte assemblages and supports more robust assessment of ecosystem condition under combined natural and anthropogenic pressures. Full article

Background: Adolescence is a developmental phase characterised by profound biological, emotional and social changes and these changes make adolescents particularly vulnerable to the emergence of psychiatric disorders. In this context, gender differences in mental health disorders are of increasing clinical interest. Method: We conducted a scoping review of the literature regarding gender differences in psychiatric disorders during adolescence. Three databases, PubMed, Web of Science and EBSCO, were used to identify articles published in English from 2015 until 2025. Twenty-one studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Results: Ten studies deal with mood disorders, with a focus on gender differences in depression and anxiety during adolescence. Two articles analyse eating disorders, highlighting that girls show higher levels of food restriction and body dissatisfaction. Two studies focus on externalising and neurobehavioural disorders, showing a higher prevalence in boys than in girls. Four articles examine self-harm and suicidal behaviour, where girls report higher rates of suicidal ideation and self-harm. Finally, two studies address personality disorders in adolescence, noting a higher incidence of borderline traits and impulsive behaviour among girls. Conclusions: Research has revealed gender differences in the onset, frequency and factors associated with psychiatric disorders in adolescence. Understanding these differences is essential for developing prevention strategies, early diagnosis and specific interventions. Full article

This article aims to reflect on the testamentary dimension of Max Ophüls’ last feature film, Lola Montès, from a research context that seeks to understand the thematic, narrative, and stylistic traits of film directors’ last films. Through a mobilisation of Gilles Deleuze’s concept of crystal image, and a film analysis of the work and comparison with other important Ophüls films, this paper argues that the constant movement of the characters and the filmmaker’s camera throughout his body of work is, in this testament film, transformed into an infernal circularity in which its protagonist is imprisoned. This movement without escape, based on the circularity of the circus arena in which Lola is held captive, is ultimately a way of portraying the decadence and exploitation of mass entertainment culture in its logic of capture, exploitation and commodification of its “human products.” The culmination of circularity and repetition in this capture is associated with the degradation of both the living performative body of Lola and the figure of its director Max Ophüls, given that Lola Montès was not only a very difficult film to direct but also very poorly received at the time of its release. Full article

A significant body of research worldwide has examined how parents who set high expectations may increase adolescents’ risk of developing perfectionistic traits. However, studies exploring this relationship in the Global South are almost nonexistent. This study investigated how adolescents perceived parental expectations related to perfectionism and depressive symptoms among Nigerian adolescents. Participants completed the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS), the Living Up to Parental Expectation Scale—Academic (LPE), and Beck’s Depression Inventory. Parental academic expectations were positively associated with personal standards and concern over mistakes, but parental expectations were negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Further analysis revealed that personal standards fully mediated the negative relationship between parental academic expectations on adolescents’ depressive symptoms. In contrast, concern over mistakes partially mediated the relationship between parental academic expectations and depressive symptoms. In contrast to previous research, parental academic expectations were associated with fewer depressive symptoms among Nigerian adolescents through indirect relationships with perfectionistic traits. Full article

Macrobrachium nipponense is an important commercial freshwater prawn species in China. Since larger individuals command higher market value, there is a pressing need to identify growth-related genes and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to facilitate genetic improvement in this species. Previous studies have suggested a potentially regulatory role of an actin-like protein (ACTL) in the growth of M. nipponense. Therefore, the present study aimed to functionally characterize the role of ACTL in growth and identify growth-associated SNPs within this gene. The open reading frame of Mn-ACTL is 1131 bp, encoding a protein with 377 amino acids. Blastx and phylogenetic analyses indicated that Mn-ACTL shares a close evolutionary relationship with orthologs from Macrobrachium rosenbergii and Palaemon carinicauda. The highest expression level of Mn-ACTL in muscle tissue detected by qPCR suggested its potential involvement in growth regulation. RNA interference experiments showed that prawns injected with dsGFP exhibited larger body sizes than those injected with dsACTL, indicating that knockdown of Mn-ACTL expression inhibits growth performance in M. nipponense. Furthermore, muscle tissue from the dsACTL-injected group displayed looser myofibril packing, visibly eroded areas, and increased sarcomere spacing. Collectively, these results demonstrated that ACTL positively regulates growth in M. nipponense. Additionally, the T allele at locus S28_17149891 and the G allele at locus S28_17145758 were significantly associated with growth traits (p < 0.05). In conclusion, this study confirmed the positive regulatory role of ACTL in growth and identified growth-associated SNPs in M. nipponense, providing valuable insights for breeding new varieties with enhanced growth performance in this species. Full article

Seed vigor is a key agronomic trait that integrates germination capacity and seedling establishment, critically influencing rice productivity. Inositol hexakisphosphate (IP₆) serves as a major phosphorus reservoir in seeds, yet its regulatory mechanism in seed vigor remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that exogenous IP₆ application inhibited seed germination and seedling growth of japonica rice (Oryza sativa L. ssp. japonica cv. Zhonghua11) in a dose-dependent manner; 10 mM IP₆ reduced seed germination by 100%, while 100 μM IP₆ suppressed primary root length by 33.6% compared to the control. This inhibitory effect is likely mediated by antagonizing auxin signaling, as supported by suppressed DR5::GUS expression and altered transcription of auxin-responsive genes. OsIPK2, a key enzyme in IP₆ biosynthesis, showed high expression during early development in rice. RNA interference of OsIPK2 led to a 40.8–61.7% reduction in seed IP₆ content, 45.3–65% higher zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) accumulation, and a 35.4–53.5% lower germination rate compared to wild-type (WT). Conversely, OsIPK2-RNAi seedlings exhibited enhanced growth and resistance to IP₆, which was associated with misregulation of auxin-responsive genes and a decrease in the repressive histone mark H3K27me3 at their loci. Furthermore, endogenous indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) levels significantly reduced in Ri-1 but unchanged in Ri-2, while abscisic acid (ABA) content and the IAA/ABA ratio remained unaltered compared to wild-type. Our findings reveal that OsIPK2 balances seed vigor and seedling development by modulating inositol phosphate metabolism, auxin responses, and epigenetic regulation, providing insights for improving seed quality in cereals. Whether the regulatory role of OsIPK2 in seed vigor is conserved across other rice subspecies requires further investigation. Full article

A rapid decline of coral reefs is taking place around the world, with climate warming being the biggest driver behind this deterioration. Efforts to increase coral climate resilience via bioengineering methods have thus become urgent, and there is hope that such interventions can help corals and coral reefs survive until a time when no further climate warming occurs and perhaps a future of climate cooling is imaginable. The manipulation of coral-associated bacterial communities is among the less advanced interventions currently being explored. Nevertheless, early findings provide confidence that some level of thermal enhancement can be achieved via the inoculation of corals with beneficial bacteria. The small number of studies available, however, is limited in terms of the traits used to select candidate bacteria and their ability to ascribe host enhancement to specific bacterial taxa and functions. Further, findings to date are unable to decipher whether candidate bacteria integrate stably within the coral microbiome. These shortcomings prevent assessment of the efficacy of bacterial manipulation to enhance the long-term thermal resilience of corals on the reef. Here we summarise the state-of-play of the field and provide recommendations to fast-track this approach via fine-tuning experimental designs and methods. Full article

Cattle breeds are optimized either for milk or meat production and secrete consumed nutrients in the form of milk or accrete nutrients as skeletal muscle tissue, respectively. Surplus energy is usually stored in the form of fat in adipose tissues. To gain more insight into the physiological and genetic background of nutrient accretion as either protein or fat, an experimental F₂ population was generated crossing Charolais (CH) bulls and German Holstein (GH) cows. Mutations in two genes with known, profound effects on growth were segregating in this population: the I442M mutation in the non-SMC condensin I complex, subunit G (NCAPG) gene, and the Q204X mutation in the myostatin (MSTN) gene. The major aim of this study was to close the gap between the described effects of the NCAPG/LCORL region and MSTN SNPs on carcass and meat quality traits, as well as on the structure and composition of the underlying tissues. Whole carcass data, meat quality traits, composition of major cuts and their dominating muscles, including muscle and fat cell structure, were analyzed as well as chemical and fatty acid composition. Mutant alleles of both loci were associated with higher weights, increased muscularity, and reduced fatness, e.g., each explaining about 15% of the observed variance. However, both loci apparently affect traits in a specific manner, influencing either dimensional traits or mass accretion. Full article

Climate change poses a threat to global rice production by increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. The widespread cultivation of genetically uniform modern varieties has narrowed the genetic base of rice, increasing its vulnerability to these increased pressures. Rice landraces are traditional rice varieties that have been cultivated by farming communities for centuries and are considered crucial resources of genetic diversity. These landraces are adapted to a wide range of agro-ecological environments and exhibit valuable traits that provide tolerance to various biotic stresses, including drought, salinity, nutrient-deficient soils, and the increasing severity of climate-related temperature extremes. In addition, many landraces possess diverse alleles associated with resistance to biotic stresses, including pests and diseases. In addition, rice landraces exhibit great grain quality characters including high levels of essential amino acids, antioxidants, flavonoids, vitamins, and micronutrients. Hence, their preservation is vital for maintaining agricultural biodiversity and enhancing nutritional security, especially in vulnerable and resource-limited regions. However, rice landraces are increasingly threatened by genetic erosion due to widespread adoption of modern high-yielding varieties, habitat loss, and changing farming practices. This review discusses the roles of rice landraces in developing resilient and climate-smart rice cultivars. Moreover, the Pantiange Heigu landrace, cultivated at one of the highest altitudes globally in Yunnan Province, China, has been used as a case study for integrated conservation by demonstrating the successful combination of in situ and ex situ strategies, community engagement, policy support, and value-added development to sustainably preserve genetic diversity under challenging environmental and socio-economic challenges. Finally, this study explores the importance of employing advanced genomic technologies with supportive policies and economic encouragements to enhance conservation and sustainable development of rice landraces as a strategic imperative for global food security. By preserving and enhancing the utilization of rice landraces, the agricultural community can strengthen the genetic base of rice, improve crop resilience, and contribute substantially to global food security and sustainable agricultural development in the face of environmental and socio-economic challenges. Full article