Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
G. Wanjala, N. Kichamu, P. Strausz, P. K. Astuti, Sz. Kusza
Summary: The reproductive performance of ewes and the survivability of lambs have a significant economic impact on sheep farming globally. Understanding the major causes of mortality can help improve flock management and prevent financial losses. A study conducted on Dorper, Red Maasai (RedM), and Merino breeds in Kenya found that RedM outperformed Dorper and Merino in weaning rate, while there was no significant difference in reproductive performance among the three breeds. However, Dorper had a higher weaning weight per lamb born compared to the other two breeds.
Article
Plant Sciences
Fred E. Gouker, Craig H. Carlson, Junzhu Zou, Luke Evans, Chase R. Crowell, Christine D. Smart, Stephen P. DiFazio, Lawrence B. Smart
Summary: This study examines sexual dimorphism for 26 traits in three populations of Salix purpurea, finding significant differences between males and females in traits such as development timing and branching angle, with important implications for biomass yield predictions. Male plants were observed to accumulate more nitrogen and exhibit greater susceptibility to rust fungus, highlighting the influence of sex on key traits in Salix bioenergy crops. These results provide evidence of sexual dimorphism that may contribute to sex chromosome evolution in S. purpurea.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Ken Keefover-Ring, Craig H. Carlson, Brennan Hyden, Muhammad Azeem, Lawrence B. Smart
Summary: Secondary chemistry mediates important ecological interactions in plants, and this study examines the genetic basis of the sexually dimorphic secondary chemistry in male and female Salix purpurea willow catkins. The research identifies the specific chemicals produced by each sex, maps quantitative trait loci (QTL) for these traits, and identifies candidate genes associated with the synthesis of these chemicals. The findings contribute to our understanding of the evolution and maintenance of dioecy in plants.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Zhang-Ying Lei, Heng Wang, Ian J. Wright, Xin-Guang Zhu, Ulo Niinemets, Zi-Liang Li, Dong-Sheng Sun, Ning Dong, Wang-Feng Zhang, Zhong-Li Zhou, Fang Liu, Ya-Li Zhang
Summary: The study found that domesticated cotton genotypes showed higher nitrogen content per mass, net photosynthesis under saturated light, and photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency compared with wild genotypes. This suggests that more nitrogen allocation to photosynthetic machinery has increased the net photosynthesis under cotton domestication, highlighting the potential for future improvements in nitrogen use efficiency to enhance photosynthesis in cotton.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Dasa Schleicherova, Marino Prearo, Crystal Di Nunno, Alfredo Santovito
Summary: This study investigated the effects of glyphosate on reproductive output and somatic growth rate in a marine polychaete worm. The results showed that glyphosate had negative effects on both reproductive output and somatic growth rate.
Article
Plant Sciences
Wenshi Hu, Manli Zhao, Shanshan Zhang, Yinshui Li, Jing Dai, Chiming Gu, Xiaoyong Li, Lu Yang, Lu Qin, Xing Liao
Summary: The coordinated increase in the photosynthetic rate and photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency is crucial for improving crop yield and nitrogen utilization efficiency. By measuring the leaf functional nitrogen partitioning in Brassica napus genotypes under different nitrogen rates, it was found that optimizing nitrogen allocation by regulating nitrogen storage content can promote the synchronous increase in photosynthetic rate and photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency.
PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Zhoukang Li, Yudong Chen, Huimin Wang, Xueni Zhang
Summary: Research shows that female leaves of Populus euphratica have stronger water uptake capacity, and this capacity changes significantly with the growth season. Leaf water uptake can effectively improve the water status and photosynthetic capacity of plants, especially during periods of intense soil water stress.
Article
Microbiology
Xue-Ping Fan, Jian-Wei Liu, Zhuliang Yang
Summary: Although functional ecology is well-established, our understanding of the evolutionary and ecological significance of reproductive traits in macrofungi is limited. We reconstructed a phylogeny tree of gomphoid fungi and found that fruit bodies and spores did not enlarge at a steady rate over time. Early gomphoid fungi maintained their size and shape through the Mesozoic, but in the Cenozoic, they acquired larger and more spherical spores while the fruit body size first decreased and then enlarged. These trade-offs were driven by extinction and climate changes. We described one new Gomphus species and nine new Turbinellus species.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Minjin Kim, Jaeki Jeong, Haizhou Lu, Tae Kyung Lee, Felix T. Eickemeyer, Yuhang Liu, In Woo Choi, Seung Ju Choi, Yimhyun Jo, Hak-Beom Kim, Sung-In Mo, Young-Ki Kim, Heunjeong Lee, Na Gyeong An, Shinuk Cho, Wolfgang R. Tress, Shaik M. Zakeeruddin, Anders Hagfeldt, Jin Young Kim, Michael Gratzel, Dong Suk Kim
Summary: The study replaced the commonly used mesoporous titanium dioxide electron transport layer with a thin layer of polyacrylic acid-stabilized tin(IV) oxide quantum dots, which improved the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells and enabled successful scaling up of PSCs production.
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Arielle Cantor, Lynn Meng, Andrea Lanes, Ellen M. Greenblatt
Summary: The study investigated the demographics and clinical outcomes of IVF patients aged 40-42 in Ontario, Canada, before and after the implementation of the Ontario Fertility Program (OFP). The findings showed that the proportion of women aged 40-42 undergoing IVF almost doubled after the launch of the OFP. The clinical pregnancy rate and cumulative clinical pregnancy rate were higher before the OFP implementation, while the cumulative live birth rate slightly decreased but still met the target requirement. This suggests that the OFP funding increased the opportunity for women aged 40 and above to access IVF, and the age eligibility criteria still met the goal of achieving at least a 10% live birth rate.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOMEDICINE ONLINE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Qin-zheng Hou, Nasib Ur Rahman, Ahmad Ali, Yu-pei Wang, Sakhawat Shah, Ehmet Nurbiye, Wen-juan Shao, Muhammad Ilyas, Kun Sun, Rui Li, Fazal Said, Shah Fahad
Summary: This study indicates that plants living at the edge of their range boundary experience a decline in reproductive fitness when their habitat is artificially expanded, with reduced flowering duration, floral display, pollen numbers, and reproductive allocation, as well as decreased pollinator richness and activity.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Iris Solis, Elena alvarez, Emilio Barba
Summary: The overlap of breeding and moulting in birds is being affected by global warming, but it does not impose additional reproductive costs on a population of great tits in eastern Spain. While pairs where both parents overlapped breeding and moulting had smaller clutch size, fewer hatched eggs, and fewer fledglings in poorer body condition, these differences disappeared when the seasonal trend in breeding performance was taken into account. Thus, the poorer reproductive performance of overlapping pairs was mainly due to breeding later in the season.
Article
Ecology
Niveditha Ramadoss, Scarlet Steele, Lluvia Flores-Renteria
Summary: Identifying plant sexual dimorphic traits is important for understanding plant-pollinator interactions. This study focused on Cylindropuntia wolfii, a cactus species with diverse flower colors and a functionally dioecious sexual system. The study found that sexual dimorphism affects pollinator visitation preference, with male flowers being bigger and brighter and attracting more potential pollinators. Additionally, fluorescence dichromatism in female flowers suggests a compensatory strategy for their dark colors and small size.
Article
Forestry
Xiuxiu Deng, Zheng Shi, Lixiong Zeng, Lei Lei, Xuebing Xin, Shunxiang Pei, Wenfa Xiao
Summary: The study on Pinus massoniana Lamb. focused on the diurnal changes in photosynthetic rate and the translocation of photosynthetic products. The net photosynthetic rate showed differences between morning and afternoon, with faster translocation in the afternoon. However, after 15 days, the allocation of photosynthetic products tended to be similar regardless of synthesis time.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Michio Yoneda, Hajime Kitano, Mitsuo Nyuji, Masahiro Nakamura, Masanori Takahashi, Atsushi Kawabata, Michiya Matsuyama, Akio Shimizu, Tatsuo Tsuzaki, Hiroyuki Togashi, Yasuhiro Kamimura
Summary: Maternal age and experienced temperature have important effects on the egg and offspring traits of chub mackerel. First-time spawners produce smaller and less nutritious eggs, while repeat spawners produce larger and more nutrient-rich eggs. The starvation tolerance, body size, and growth rate of the offspring are also influenced by maternal age and temperature.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)