Dominant Effect Research Articles

Comparative transcriptomic analysis reveals the molecular mechanism underlying seedling heterosis and its relationship with hybrid contemporary seeds DNA methylation in soybean.

Heterosis is widely used in crop production, but phenotypic dominance and its underlying causes in soybeans, a significant grain and oil crop, remain a crucial yet unexplored issue. Here, the phenotypes and transcriptome profiles of three inbred lines and their resulting F1 seedlings were analyzed. The results suggest that F1 seedlings with superior heterosis in leaf size and biomass exhibited a more extensive recompilation in their transcriptional network and activated a greater number of genes compared to the parental lines. Furthermore, the transcriptional reprogramming observed in the four hybrid combinations was primarily non-additive, with dominant effects being more prevalent. Enrichment analysis of sets of differentially expressed genes, coupled with a weighted gene co-expression network analysis, has shown that the emergence of heterosis in seedlings can be attributed to genes related to circadian rhythms, photosynthesis, and starch synthesis. In addition, we combined DNA methylation data from previous immature seeds and observed similar recompilation patterns between DNA methylation and gene expression. We also found significant correlations between methylation levels of gene region and gene expression levels, as well as the discovery of 12 hub genes that shared or conflicted with their remodeling patterns. This suggests that DNA methylation in contemporary hybrid seeds have an impact on both the F1 seedling phenotype and gene expression to some extent. In conclusion, our study provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms of heterosis in soybean seedlings and its practical implications for selecting superior soybean varieties.

Wormholing behavior in matrix acidizing in vuggy, naturally fractured carbonate reservoirs

In vuggy, naturally fractured carbonate reservoirs, hydrocarbon is mainly stored in vugs and natural fractures (NFs). To enhance oil production in such reservoirs, matrix acidizing is used to generate wormholes to connect the wellbore with NFs and vugs. Due to the simultaneous existence of NFs and vugs, the acid flow and interaction with rock in acidizing is complicated, and the wormhole propagation behavior needs to be clarified. To this end, the pore structure characterization method accounting for the matrix, vugs, and NFs is established based on geostatistics methods, which is then combined with the two-scale wormhole model to simulate wormhole propagation in the vuggy, naturally fractured carbonate reservoirs. The effects of geological factors and engineering factors on wormholing behavior are analyzed through extensive numerical simulations. The research shows that both the dimensionless correlation length and the areal proportion of vugs affect wormhole propagation. There is an optimal combination of the dimensionless correlation length and the areal proportion (evaluated by comprehensive influence coefficient), rendering more vugs being connected with wormholes. NFs have a dominant effect on wormhole propagation. The optimal natural fracture density and dimensionless length of NFs exist for a given formation with the same vug distribution. The distribution of the NFs and the vugs has a dominant effect on wormhole pattern and vugs that can be connected. In engineering practice, retarded acid system with low diffusion coefficient of hydrogen ions (H+) is recommended to obtain longer wormholes so as to increase the possibility of connecting remote vugs with the wellbore. Meanwhile, for vuggy, naturally fractured carbonate reservoirs, increasing the injection rate promotes acid flow in NFs, facilitating wormhole propagation and connecting with more vugs with the same injection volume as long as the pumping pressure is lower than the formation breaking pressure. This research provides theoretical basis for matrix acidizing in vuggy, naturally fractured carbonate reservoirs.

Multiple processes jointly determine ecological uniqueness across forest plant life‐forms in Northeast China

AbstractAimEcological uniqueness is an essential component of biodiversity. However, the mechanisms underlying patterns of ecological uniqueness remain unresolved. This study aims to assess the relative importance as well as interactive roles of four hypothesized processes (regional climate filtering, local environmental filtering, biotic heterogeneity and disturbance intensity [DI]) in shaping ecological uniqueness across three forest plant life‐forms (trees, shrubs and herbs) in a large temperate forest region.LocationNortheast China.MethodsWe quantified ecological uniqueness as abundance and incidence‐based local relative contributions to beta diversity (i.e. LCBD indices) in the study region. Multiple beta regression analyses and piecewise structural equation models were used to determine the relative direct and interactive effects of four processes in shaping ecological uniqueness across forest plant life‐forms.ResultsThe southern area of the region exhibited consistently greater LCBD values across plant life‐forms, highlighting its importance for conservation. All four processes jointly affected ecological uniqueness but their relative importance varied across plant life‐forms. Generally, regional climate had the dominant effect on tree LCBD while biotic heterogeneity was the most important process driving shrub and herb LCBDs. Local environmental filtering was less important in driving LCBD of all life‐forms. The significant direct effect of DI was only found in the herb group. Despite its weak direct effect, DI could indirectly shape tree and shrub LCBDs via biotic heterogeneity.Main ConclusionsOur study suggests that current patterns of ecological uniqueness (i.e. LCBD) across forest plant life‐forms result from multiple processes, with regional climate filtering and biotic heterogeneity having the strongest effects on uniqueness patterns across all life‐forms. Meanwhile, DI is more critical for shaping ecological uniqueness of herbs than trees or shrubs. We highlight the interactive roles of biotic and abiotic filtering in shaping biologically distinct communities important for biodiversity conservation.

Low-cycle fatigue behaviour of extruded 7075 aluminium alloy bar: Competition of grain sizes and textures

The low-cycle fatigue (LCF) behaviour of a large 7075 aluminium alloy bar was investigated, and the results indicated that the microstructure at the center (0R) and surface section of the bar (R) were different in terms of grain sizes and textures. The microstructure of the 0R specimen was characterised by coarser elongated grain and higher <111> texture intensity compared to that of the R specimen. The LCF life of the 0R specimen was higher than that of the R specimen at a strain amplitude range of 0.6%–0.9%, thereby indicating the dominant effect of higher texture intensity. However, the 0R specimen sustained short LCF life at low strain amplitudes of 0.4% and 0.5%, indicating the predominant effect of grain refinement. The fracture analysis results indicated that there were wider striations for the 0R specimen at a strain amplitude of 0.4%. Interestingly, the yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and elongation of the 0R specimen were higher than that of the R specimen. The higher mechanical properties of the 0R specimen was consistent with its longer low cycle fatigue life at strain amplitude range of 0.6%–0.9%. Moreover, the features of the fracture, including fracture initiation and fast fracture regions, were also elaborated. The competition of grain sizes and texture evolutions determined the LCF life of the alloy depending on the strain amplitude range: the grain size effect gradually overshadowed that of the texture with decreasing strain in terms of fatigue life.

Reaching interactions in virtual reality: the effect of movement direction, hand dominance, and hemispace on the kinematic properties of inward and outward reaches

Recent literature has revealed that when users reach to select objects in VR, they can adapt how they move (i.e., the kinematic properties of their reaches) depending on the: (1) direction they move, (2) hand they use, and (3) side of the body where the movement occurs. In the present work, we took a more detailed look at how kinematic properties of reaching movements performed in VR change as a function of movement direction for reaches performed on each side of the body using each hand. We focused on reaches in 12 different directions that either involved moving inward (toward the body midline) or outward (away from the body midline). Twenty users reached in each direction on both left and right sides of their body, using both their dominant and non-dominant hands. The results provided a fine-grained account of how kinematic properties of virtual hand reaches change as a function of movement direction when users reach on either side of their body using either hand. The findings provide practitioners insights on how to interpret the kinematic properties of reaching behaviors in VR, which has applicability in emerging contexts that include detecting VR usability issues and using VR for stroke rehabilitation.

Estimation of Additive and Dominance Effects in an Acacia crassicarpa Multi-Environment Progeny Trial Using Genomic Pedigree Reconstruction

Abstract Acacia crassicarpa is an important tree species in Southeast Asia, where hundreds of thousands of hectares of planted forests are supported by advancements in silviculture and genetic improvement. Although possible, controlled pollination is impractical for advancing breeding populations, requiring an unreasonable effort to produce more than a few crosses per year. For this reason, breeding populations often are bred by open pollination. This study used large-scale pedigree reconstruction in multi-environment trials to assess full-sib families to model the genetics of the quantitative traits survival, straightness, height, diameter at breast height, tree volume, mean annual increment (MAI), and basic density. The traits were predominantly controlled by additive effects, with heritabilities between 0.09 for survival and 0.45 for basic density. The genetic correlation across sites was high for all traits, showing the low impact of genotype-by-environment interaction. The trait-trait correlation showed that straightness was independent of any other traits, survival was only correlated with MAI, and growth traits were highly correlated among themselves. Basic density was positively correlated with growth traits and MAI. Study Implications: Parentage analysis using an informative single nucleotide polymorphism panel was used to reconstruct pedigree and allow a full-sib family model to estimate additive and dominance effects and genetic correlations across sites and among important traits in an open-pollinated population. The genetic control of all traits assessed in this study was mainly additive. In this scenario, the recommended breeding strategy is forward selection of outstanding progeny for advanced generation breeding and backward selection of outstanding parents to produce seed for deployment via family forestry. Full-sib families can be identified by pedigree reconstruction at a seedling stage, followed by tissue culture multiplication, rooted cutting propagation, and plantation establishment.

Role of Rare Species on Phytoplankton Size–Abundance Relationships and Size Structure across Different Biogeographical Areas

Phytoplankton guilds are commonly characterised by dominance effects, while the main contribution to biological diversity is given by rare species. Here, we analysed the influence of rare species on taxonomic and functional diversity, which is described by taxa richness and composition, cell size, and size–abundance relationships in phytoplankton guilds. We explore these relationships at global and regional scales by analysing phytoplankton guilds from five biogeographical regions: the Northern Atlantic Ocean (Scotland), the South-Western Atlantic Ocean (Brazil), the South-Western Pacific Ocean (Australia), the Indo-Pacific Ocean (Maldives), and the Mediterranean Sea (Greece and Turkey). We have comparatively analysed the phytoplankton taxonomic diversity of the whole dataset and with the datasets obtained by progressively subtracting taxa occurring in the last 1%, 5%, 10%, and 25% of both numerical abundance and overall biomass. Globally, 306 taxa were identified across five ecoregions with only 27 taxa accounting for 75% of overall numerical abundance and biomass; almost 50% of taxa were lost on every step. The removal of 1% of most rare taxa significantly affected the phytoplankton size–abundance relationships and body-size structure, strongly impacting on small taxa. The progressive removal of additional rare taxa did not further affect phytoplankton size–abundance relationships and size structure.

Face-valid phenotypes in a mouse model of the most common mutation in EEF1A2-related neurodevelopmental disorder.

De novo heterozygous missense mutations in EEF1A2, encoding neuromuscular translation-elongation factor eEF1A2, are associated with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies. We used CRISPR/Cas9 to recapitulate the most common mutation, E122K, in mice. Although E122K heterozygotes were not observed to have convulsive seizures, they exhibited frequent electrographic seizures and EEG abnormalities, transient early motor deficits and growth defects. Both E122K homozygotes and Eef1a2-null mice developed progressive motor abnormalities, with E122K homozygotes reaching humane endpoints by P31. The null phenotype is driven by progressive spinal neurodegeneration; however, no signs of neurodegeneration were observed in E122K homozygotes. The E122K protein was relatively stable in neurons yet highly unstable in skeletal myocytes, suggesting that the E122K/E122K phenotype is instead driven by loss of function in muscle. Nevertheless, motor abnormalities emerged far earlier in E122K homozygotes than in nulls, suggesting a toxic gain of function and/or a possible dominant-negative effect. This mouse model represents the first animal model of an EEF1A2 missense mutation with face-valid phenotypes and has provided mechanistic insights needed to inform rational treatment design.

PENGARUH GAYA KEPEMIMPINAN DAN PELATIHAN TERHADAP KINERJA PEGAWAI

Many factors affect HR performance, including job satisfaction factors, communication factors, work experience factors, work discipline factors, leadership factors, competency factors, job training factors and work environment factors. The purposes of this study are 1) To find out and analyse the partial effect of leadership on administrative staff performance, 2) To find out and analyse the partial effect of training on administrative staff performance, 3) To find out and analyse the simultaneous effect of leadership and training on administrative staff performance, 4) To find out and analyse between leadership and training which has the most dominant influence on the performance of administrative employees. In this study, the population that became the object of research was administrative staff of 53 respondents. The results of this study indicate that leadership style has no significant effect on administrative staff performance, while training has a partially significant effect on administrative employee performance. From this study it can be seen that leadership style and training variables have a significant simultaneous effect on administrative employee performance. From the results of the study, it can be seen that training has a dominant effect on the performance of administrative employees.&#x0D; &#x0D; Keywords: Leadership Style, Training, Employee Performance

Abstract A071: Identification and characterization of functionally distinct isoforms of estrogen receptor alpha in breast cancer

Abstract We used long- and short-read RNA sequencing of breast tumor tissue, breast cancer cell lines, and healthy tissues to create a comprehensive annotation of alternative mRNA isoforms of estrogen receptor alpha (ER, gene symbol ESR1) and combined this with functional studies of alternative protein isoforms. The ER is frequently overexpressed in breast cancer and is used in the clinic as a prognostic and treatment-predictive factor. It is also a drug target. The ER is a transcription factor and regulates gene expression in response to estrogen, a hormone that can stimulate breast cell proliferation and contribute to tumor growth. The gene has multiple promoters, and alternative mRNA isoforms have been linked to more aggressive breast tumors, suggesting that the splicing pattern of ER transcripts may influence breast cancer biology and clinical outcome. We cloned and characterized six alternative protein isoforms of ER. They were selected based on expression level in sequencing data, splice junction support, and only contained one alternative splicing event each compared to the full-length ER. Experimental characterization was done in cell lines and included transcription factor activity, alone and upon co-expression with full-length ER, response to the ER-targeting drugs tamoxifen and fulvestrant, as well as subcellular localization. Two alternative isoforms exhibited transcription factor activity, although at lower levels than the full-length ER, while isoforms with larger deletions in the DNA-binding domain or lacking parts of the ligand-binding domain were inactive. One isoform had a dominant negative effect on the activity of the full-length protein. Furthermore, full-length ER and three alternative isoforms were found in both cytoplasm and nucleus, while the remaining isoforms were only present in the cytoplasm. Isoforms capable of entering the nucleus showed increased nuclear localization upon estradiol treatment, with one isoform accumulating significantly higher and one lower than the full-length ER. Co-transfection of full-length ER and isoforms lacking transcription factor activity did not alter their distribution, suggesting a possible role of heterodimerization with full-length ER for the dominant negative isoform in the nucleus. In ongoing experiments, we are studying the regulation, expression, and function of alternative isoforms of ER in cell line models of drug resistance. These findings highlight the complexity and diversity of ER isoforms in breast cancer and suggest that specific isoforms may have distinct functional roles in tumor progression and response to therapy. Our work provides insights into the role of alternative mRNA splicing in breast cancer development and progression. Citation Format: Juliane Albrecht, Carlos Enrique Balcazar, Helena Persson, Völundur Hafstað, Cornelia Börjesson Freitag, Johan Vallon-Christersson, Jari Häkkinen. Identification and characterization of functionally distinct isoforms of estrogen receptor alpha in breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Advances in Breast Cancer Research; 2023 Oct 19-22; San Diego, California. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(3 Suppl_1):Abstract nr A071.

Including Neutrino-driven Convection in the Force Explosion Condition to Predict Explodability of Multidimensional Core-collapse Supernovae (FEC+)

Most massive stars end their lives with core collapse. However, it is not clear which explode as a core-collapse supernova (CCSN), leaving behind a neutron star, and which collapse to a black hole, aborting the explosion. One path to predict explodability without expensive multidimensional simulations is to develop analytic explosion conditions. These analytic conditions also provide a deeper understanding of the explosion mechanism and they provide some insight into why some simulations explode and some do not. The analytic force explosion condition (FEC) reproduces the explosion conditions of spherically symmetric CCSN simulations. In this follow-up manuscript, we include the dominant multidimensional effect that aids explosion—neutrino-driven convection—in the FEC. This generalized critical condition (FEC+) is suitable for multidimensional simulations and has potential to accurately predict explosion conditions of two- and three-dimensional CCSN simulations. We show that adding neutrino-driven convection reduces the critical condition by ∼30%, which is consistent with previous multidimensional simulations.

Evaluation of beam coupling impedance by generating a dedicated database in an ultra-low emittance storage ring

The evaluation and accurate understanding of the cause of collective effects and the related instabilities using corrective measures, which may limit the achievable current per bunch, is significant for a prosperous design of charged particle accelerators. We describe in detail two dominant collective effects, i.e. space-charge and wakefield effects for a multi-bend achromat (MBA) storage ring lattice under design. We have developed a detailed impedance model, which is used to study the beam dynamics, including the wakefield effects. The beam coupling impedances due to the wakefields were calculated to construct a coupling impedance database, with the wakefields of each vacuum component being maintained in a standard format. The Self-Describing Data Sets (SDDS) toolkit was used to calculate the wake potentials for all coupling impedance contributing vacuum components, to be used for an ultra-low emittance lattice design. The ELEGANT code was utilized for the particle tracking in an element-by-element procedure along the lattice. A bunch with the Gaussian distribution was assumed to calculate the model for a distributed resistive-wall impedance and the impedance generated by geometrical discontinuities for the various accelerator elements. Moreover, we evaluated the potential-well distortion effect due to longitudinal phase space motion for a system of electron bunches. The collective effects in multi-particle systems have been evaluated for the estimation of the beam instability with more accurate results, defined by their sources in the designed lattice and describing their effects on beam instabilities with remarkable consequences like energy loss and betatron tune shift.

A comment on the order of report in two-pair dichotic digit testing in children assessed for auditory processing

Objective This clinical note aimed to 1) describe the order-of-report (OoR) strategies used by a large sample of children who completed 2pDD testing in the free-recall condition as part of an audiological assessment of auditory processing (AP), and 2) determine if use of OoR correlated with 2pDD test performance. Design A retrospective (case-review), single observation design. Study sample A convenient sample of 77 children (50 males and 27 females aged 7.0 to 17.4 years [median = 8.8 years]) referred to audiology for an AP assessment. Results The participating children used temporal more than ear or sequential OoR and showed decreased test scores with increased use of ear OoR. Conclusions These findings suggest children referred for an AP assessment could favour a temporal OoR when completing 2pDD testing for its opportunity to rehearse the first digit pair (possibly strengthening its memory trace) prior to processing the second digit pair, while their use of an ear OoR could come at the cost detrimental ear dominance effects that reduce their test performance. Future research could consider if similar results are observed in other child populations and if preferred dichotic processing strategy could inform auditory training for children with dichotic listening deficits.

Effects of shrub species dominance and diversity on oak seedling survival in Mediterranean woodlands: The interplay of abiotic conditions and plant traits

Understanding plant species interactions, including facilitation and competition, is fundamental to improve the success of woody seedling establishment. This is particularly important for the restoration of sclerophyllous oak forests, one of the main forest types in Mediterranean Europe currently facing a severe lack of oak natural regeneration. However, the effects of shrub communities dominated by different species and diverse shrub communities on the establishment of Mediterranean oaks remains poorly understood. We conducted a 3-year experimental study in cork oak (Quercus suber L.) woodlands in Portugal to assess the effects of species dominance and diversity of the shrub community and associated abiotic resources on cork oak seedling emergence and survival. We hypothesized that the emergence and survival vary with the identity of the dominant shrub, due to distinct shrub functional traits affecting understory abiotic conditions. Additionally, we predict that the survival of seedlings increases with shrub diversity, driven by net facilitation processes. We sowed 960 cork oak acorns across five replicated microhabitats: four with distinct shrub species dominance and diversity and one without shrub cover. We used Bayesian statistics to model cork oak seedling emergence and survival as a function of microhabitat type and abiotic variables (soil water and temperature, soil characteristics and leaf area index). Seedling emergence and survival varied with species dominance and diversity of the shrub microhabitat. The highest survival was observed in microhabitats characterized by higher shrub diversity, and the lowest survival in microhabitats dominated by Cistus ladanifer. Maximum soil temperature was associated with higher emergence but lower survival in open conditions or areas with sparser shrub cover. Water logging constrained emergence and survival, but higher soil potassium was associated with higher survival, for all microhabitats. Our study shows that interactions between cork oak seedlings and their shrub neighbors are species and community dependent, and that a more diverse shrub composition improves cork oak seedling survival, likely due to distinct shrub traits that ameliorate the physical environment and promote facilitation. Management and restoration of Mediterranean sclerophyllous oak forests need to consider the specificity and diversity of the understory plant community, as well as the different stages of oak early life-cycle, to identify the most favorable conditions for oak establishment. This becomes particularly important under more frequent climatic extremes predicted for Mediterranean Europe.

Radiative and Microphysical Impacts of the Saharan Dust on Two Concurrent Tropical Cyclones: Danielle and Earl (2010)

AbstractSaharan dust exerts profound impacts on the genesis and intensification of tropical cyclones (TCs). Such impacts on various stages of the TCs have yet to be explored. In this study, we utilize the Cloud‐Resolving weather research and forecasting model (WRF) to investigate the relative importance of the microphysical and radiative effects of dust on two hurricanes (Earl and Danielle) at different life stages under similar dynamical conditions in 2010. Both TCs were embedded in a dusty environment throughout their lifetime. A new dust ice nucleation scheme was implemented into the aerosol‐aware Texas A&amp;M University two‐moment microphysical scheme in WRF. Moreover, the dust radiative effect was included in the Goddard Shortwave Scheme of WRF. Our sensitivity experiments show that the radiative effect of dust (DRAD) amplified the mid‐level ridge in the Central Atlantic Ocean through temperature perturbation, changing the tracks of Danielle and Earl. Further analyses reveal an early shift of Danielle's maximum intensity for 12 hours but a significantly suppressed Earl in DRAD. In addition, the microphysical effect of dust had little impact on the large‐scale dynamical fields and storm tracks. The inclusion of dust as ice nucleation particles results in more variations in the intensity of Danielle and Earl than in other scenarios. This is owing to the higher maximum diabatic heating rate in the rainband region that perturbs the size of the TC. This study shows the dominant dust radiative effects on both intensity and track of the storm. In addition, there is evidence that dust suppresses the early stage TC but provides favorable conditions for matured TC. Both findings have profound implications for hurricane forecast and address the importance of accounting for detailed cloud microphysics and aerosol‐TC interactions in the operational forecasting models.

Impaired STING Activation Due to a Variant in the E3 Ubiquitin Ligase AMFR in a Patient with Severe VZV Infection and Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is a neurotropic alphaherpesvirus exclusively infecting humans, causing two distinct pathologies: varicella (chickenpox) upon primary infection and herpes zoster (shingles) following reactivation. In susceptible individuals, VZV can give rise to more severe clinical manifestations, including disseminated infection, pneumonitis, encephalitis, and vasculopathy with stroke. Here, we describe a 3-year-old boy in whom varicella followed a complicated course with thrombocytopenia, hemorrhagic and necrotic lesions, pneumonitis, and intermittent encephalopathy. Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) was strongly suspected and as the condition deteriorated, HLH therapy was initiated. Although the clinical condition improved, longstanding hemophagocytosis followed despite therapy. We found that the patient carries a rare monoallelic variant in autocrine motility factor receptor (AMFR), encoding a ubiquitin ligase involved in innate cytosolic DNA sensing and interferon (IFN) production through the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase–stimulator of IFN genes (cGAS-STING) pathway. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from the patient exhibited impaired signaling downstream of STING in response dsDNA and 2'3'-cGAMP, agonists of cGAS and STING, respectively, and fibroblasts from the patient showed impaired type I IFN responses and significantly increased VZV replication. Overexpression of the variant AMFR R594C resulted in decreased K27-linked STING ubiquitination compared to WT AMFR. Moreover, ImageStream technology revealed reduced STING trafficking from ER to Golgi in cells expressing the patient AMFR R594C variant. This was supported by a dose-dependent dominant negative effect of expression of the patient AMFR variant as measured by IFN-β reporter gene assay. Finally, lentiviral transduction with WT AMFR partially reconstituted 2'3'-cGAMP-induced STING-mediated signaling and ISG expression in patient PBMCs. This work links defective AMFR-STING signaling to severe VZV disease and hyperinflammation and suggests a direct role for cGAS-STING in the control of viral infections in humans. In conclusion, we describe a novel genetic etiology of severe VZV disease in childhood, also representing the first inborn error of immunity related to a defect in the cGAS-STING pathway.

DNMT1 Y495C mutation interferes with maintenance methylation of imprinting control regions

Hereditary Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathy Type 1E (HSAN1E) is a rare autosomal dominant neurological disorder due to missense mutations in DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1). To investigate the nature of the dominant effect, we compared methylomes of transgenic R1wtDnmt1 and R1Dnmt1Y495C mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) overexpressing WT and the mutant mouse proteins respectively, with the R1 (wild-type) cells. In case of R1Dnmt1Y495C, 15 out of the 20 imprinting control regions were hypomethylated with transcript level dysregulation of multiple imprinted genes in ESCs and neurons. Non-imprinted regions, minor satellites, major satellites, LINE1 and IAP repeats were unaffected. These data mirror the specific imprinting defects associated with transient removal of DNMT1 in mESCs, deletion of the maternal-effect DNMT1o variant in preimplantation mouse embryos, and in part, reprogramming to naïve human iPSCs. This is the first DNMT1 mutation demonstrated to specifically affect Imprinting Control Regions (ICRs), and reinforces the differences in maintenance methylation of ICRs over non-imprinted regions. Consistent with nervous system abnormalities in the HSAN1E disorder and involvement of imprinted genes in normal development and neurogenesis, R1Dnmt1Y495C cells showed dysregulated pluripotency and neuron marker genes, and yielded more slender, shorter, and extensively branched neurons. We speculate that R1Dnmt1Y495C cells produce predominantly dimers containing mutant proteins, leading to a gradual and specific loss of ICR methylation during early human development.

The effect of quality of worklife, work motivation and employee engagement on employee performance

This study aims to analyze the effect of quality of worklife, work motivation and employee engagement on employee performance at PT. Cahaya Engineering Sukses Bekasi used as a case study. This research approach uses quantitative, a total sample obtained as many as 110 respondents with a population of 150. Data collection techniques with observation, documentation and questionnaires with random sampling techniques. Multiple linear regression analysis methods with SPSS programs are used to analyze the data. The results showed that Quality Of Worklife had a positive but not significant effect while Work Motivation and Employee Engagement had a positive and significant effect on Employee Performance with Work Motivation variables that had a more dominant effect. Quality Of Worklife, Work Motivation and Employee Engagement simultaneously have a positive and significant effect on the performance of PT. Cahaya Engineering Sukses Bekasi. This shows that companies should focus more on improving Quality of Worklife and Employee Engagement in order to produce better employee performance.

MAGE: metafounders-assisted genomic estimation of breeding value, a novel additive-dominance single-step model in crossbreeding systems.

Utilizing both purebred and crossbred data in animal genetics is widely recognized as an optimal strategy for enhancing the predictive accuracy of breeding values. Practically, the different genetic background among several purebred populations and their crossbred offspring populations limits the application of traditional prediction methods. Several studies endeavor to predict the crossbred performance via the partial relationship, which divides the data into distinct sub-populations based on the common genetic background, such as one single purebred population and its corresponding crossbred descendant. However, this strategy makes prediction inaccurate due to ignoring half of the parental information of crossbreed animals. Furthermore, dominance effects, although playing a significant role in crossbreeding systems, cannot be modeled under such a prediction model. To overcome this weakness, we developed a novel multi-breed single-step model using metafounders to assess ancestral relationships across diverse breeds under a unified framework. We proposed to use multi-breed dominance combined relationship matrices to model additive and dominance effects simultaneously. Our method provides a straightforward way to evaluate the heterosis of crossbreeds and the breeding values of purebred parents efficiently and accurately. We performed simulation and real data analyses to verify the potential of our proposed method. Our proposed model improved prediction accuracy under all scenarios considered compared to commonly used methods. The software for implementing our method is available at https://github.com/CAU-TeamLiuJF/MAGE.

Genetic Components Derived Parameters and Heterosis in Okra under Saudi Arabia Conditions.

Four parental genotypes of okra were crossed in complete diallel design to study the direction and extent of relative heterosis and heterobeltiosis for yield and its associated traits for utilization of existing genetic diversity to develop heterotic F1 hybrids in okra. The additive genetic component (D) was significant in all studied traits except average pod weight. Nonadditive (H1 and H2) components were found to be significant in all studied traits. However, the values of the dominant effect (H1) were smaller than the D components for no. of nodes/plant, no. of pods/plant, weight of medium pods, weight of large pods, and total fresh pod yield. The maximum significant MP heterosis in the desirable direction (149.9%) was recorded for the weight of large pods/plot. The maximum significant heterobeltiosis in the desirable direction (120.1%) was recorded for the weight of small pods/plot followed by total fresh pod yield (107.4%), the weight of large pods/plot (104.9%), weight of medium pods/plot (92.1%), average pod weight (51.8%), number of pods/plant (38.4%), and plant height (34.3%). It could be concluded that plant height, average pod weight, and the number of branches could be considered for the development of elite hybrids (heterosis breeding) or inbred lines (pure line selection) in succeeding generations. Therefore, these parameters can be considered for selecting genotypes to improve the pod yield of okra. The superior crosses identified through heterosis analysis were Egyptian Balady × Line 4.1.18 (30.8 ton/ha), Line 4.1.18 × Egyptian Balady (29.8 ton/ha), Dwarf Green Long Pod × Line 4.1.18 (28.3 ton/ha), and Egyptian Balady × Dwarf Green Long Pod (27.6 ton/ha) as these crosses had high performance as well as significant and higher estimates of heterobeltiosis for fruit yield per plant and yield attributing other characters.