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Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases are a class of heart and blood vessel-related illnesses. In Sub-Saharan Africa, including Ethiopia, preventable heart disease continues to be a significant factor, contrasting with its presence in developed nations. Therefore, the objective of the study was to assess the prevalence of death due to cardiac disease and its risk factors among heart patients in Ethiopia., Methods: The current investigation included all cardiac patients who had cardiac surgery in the country between 2012 and 2023. A total of 1520 individuals were participated in the study. Data collection took place between February 2022 and January 2023. The study design was a retrospective cohort since the study track back patients' chart since 2012. Machine learning algorithms were applied for data analysis. For machine learning algorithms comparison, lift and AUC was applied., Results: From all possible algorithms, logistic algorithm at 90%/10% was the best fit since it produces the maximum AUC value. In addition, based on the lift value of 3.33, it can be concluded that the logistic regression algorithm was performing well and providing substantial improvement over random selection. From the logistic regression machine learning algorithms, age, saturated oxygen, ejection fraction, duration of cardiac center stays after surgery, waiting time to surgery, hemoglobin, and creatinine were significant predictors of death., Conclusion: Some of the predictors for the death of cardiac disease patients are identified as such special attention should be given to aged patients, for patients waiting for long periods of time to get surgery, lower saturated oxygen, higher creatinine value, lower ejection fraction and for patients with lower hemoglobin values., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The milestone of compound leaf development is the generation of separate leaflet primordia during the early stages, which involves two linked but distinct morphogenetic events: leaflet initiation and boundary establishment for leaflet separation. Although some progress in understanding the regulatory pathways for each event have been made, it is unclear how they are intrinsically coordinated. Here, we identify the PINNATE-LIKE PENTAFOLIATA2 (PINNA2) gene encoding a newly identified GRAS transcription factor in Medicago truncatula. PINNA2 transcripts are preferentially detected at organ boundaries. Its loss-of-function mutations convert trifoliate leaves into a pinnate pentafoliate pattern. PINNA2 directly binds to the promoter region of the LEAFY orthologue SINGLE LEAFLET1 (SGL1), which encodes a key positive regulator of leaflet initiation, and downregulates its expression. Further analysis revealed that PINNA2 synergizes with two other repressors of SGL1 expression, the BEL1-like homeodomain protein PINNA1 and the C2H2 zinc finger protein PALMATE-LIKE PENTAFOLIATA1 (PALM1), to precisely define the spatiotemporal expression of SGL1 in compound leaf primordia, thereby maintaining a proper pattern of leaflet initiation. Moreover, we showed that the enriched expression of PINNA2 at the leaflet-to-leaflet boundaries is positively regulated by the boundary-specific gene MtNAM, which is essential for leaflet boundary formation. Together, these results unveil a pivotal role of the boundary-expressed transcription factor PINNA2 in regulating leaflet initiation, providing molecular insights into the coordination of intricate developmental processes underlying compound leaf pattern formation., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement. The PINNA2 gene investigated in this study has been the subject of an international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application with the patent number PCT/CN2023/072361. The authors affirm that they have no additional competing interests to declare., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of American Society of Plant Biologists.)

Molecular genetic understanding of flowering time regulation is crucial for sorghum development. GRAIN NUMBER, PLANT HEIGHT AND HEADING DATE 7 (SbGhd7) is one of the six classical loci conferring photoperiod sensitivity of sorghum flowering. However, its functions remain poorly studied. The molecular functions of SbGhd7 were characterized. The gene regulatory network controlled by SbGhd7 was constructed and validated. The biological roles of SbGhd7 and its major targets were studied. SbGhd7 overexpression (OE) completely prevented sorghum flowering. Additionally, we show that SbGhd7 is a major negative regulator of flowering, binding to the promoter motif TGAATG(A/T)(A/T/C) and repressing transcription of the major florigen FLOWERING LOCUS T 10 (SbFT10) and floral activators EARLY HEADING DATE (SbEhd1), FLAVIN-BINDING, KELCH REPEAT, F-BOX1 (SbFKF1) and EARLY FLOWERING 3 (SbELF3). Reinforcing the direct effect of SbGhd7, SbEhd1 OE activated the promoters of three functional florigens (SbFT1, SbFT8 and SbFT10), dramatically accelerating flowering. Our studies demonstrate that SbGhd7 is a major repressor of sorghum flowering by directly and indirectly targeting genes for flowering activation. The mechanism appears ancient. Our study extends the current model of floral transition regulation in sorghum and provides a framework for a comprehensive understanding of sorghum photoperiod response., (© 2024 The Authors New Phytologist © 2024 New Phytologist Foundation.)

Introduction: Living in poverty, especially in low-income countries, are more affected by cardiovascular disease. Unlike the developed countries, it remains a significant cause of preventable heart disease in the Sub-Saharan region, including Ethiopia. According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Health statement, around 40,000 cardiac patients have been waiting for surgery in Ethiopia since September 2020. There is insufficient information about long-term cardiac patients' post-survival after cardiac surgery in Ethiopia. Therefore, the main objective of the current study was to determine the long-term post-cardiac surgery patients' survival status in Ethiopia., Methods: All patients attended from 2012 to 2023 throughout the country were included in the current study. The total number of participants was 1520 heart disease patients. The data collection procedure was conducted from February 2022- January 2023. Machine learning algorithms were applied. Gompertz regression was used also for the multivariable analysis report., Results: From possible machine learning models, random survival forest were preferred. It emphasizes, the most important variable for clinical prediction was SPO2, Age, time to surgery waiting time, and creatinine value and it accounts, 42.55%, 25.17%,11.82%, and 12.19% respectively. From the Gompertz regression, lower saturated oxygen, higher age, lower ejection fraction, short period of cardiac center stays after surgery, prolonged waiting time to surgery, and creating value were statistically significant predictors of death outcome for post-cardiac surgery patients' survival in Ethiopia., Conclusion: Some of the risk factors for the death of post-cardiac surgery patients are identified in the current investigation. Particular attention should be given to patients with prolonged waiting times and aged patients. Since there were only two fully active cardiac centers in Ethiopia it is far from an adequate number of centers for more than 120 million population, therefore, the study highly recommended to increase the number of cardiac centers that serve as cardiac surgery in Ethiopia., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa L.) forage quality is adversely affected by lignin deposition in cell walls at advanced maturity stages. Reducing lignin content through RNA interference or antisense approaches has been shown to improve alfalfa forage quality and digestibility. We employed a multiplex CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene-editing system to reduce lignin content and alter lignin composition in alfalfa by targeting the COUMARATE 3-HYDROXYLASE (MsC3H) gene, which encodes a key enzyme in lignin biosynthesis. Four guide RNAs (gRNAs) targeting the first exon of MsC3H were designed and clustered into a tRNA-gRNA polycistronic system and introduced into tetraploid alfalfa via Agrobacterium -mediated transformation. Out of 130 transgenic lines, at least 73 lines were confirmed to contain gene-editing events in one or more alleles of MsC3H . Fifty-five lines were selected for lignin content/composition analysis. Amongst these lines, three independent tetra-allelic homozygous lines ( Msc3h-013, Msc3h-121 , and Msc3h-158 ) with different mutation events in MsC3H were characterized in detail. Homozygous mutation of MsC3H in these three lines significantly reduced the lignin content and altered lignin composition in stems. Moreover, these lines had significantly lower levels of acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber as well as higher levels of total digestible nutrients, relative feed values, and in vitro true dry matter digestibility. Taken together, these results showed that CRISPR/Cas9-mediated editing of MsC3H successfully reduced shoot lignin content, improved digestibility, and nutritional values without sacrificing plant growth and biomass yield. These lines could be used in alfalfa breeding programs to generate elite transgene-free alfalfa cultivars with reduced lignin and improved forage quality., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2024 Wolabu, Mahmood, Chen, Torres-Jerez, Udvardi, Tadege, Cong, Wang and Wen.)

Plant-specific WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) family transcription factors play critical roles in maintaining meristems and lateral organ development. The WUS clade member STF/LAM1 physically interacts with the intermediate clade member WOX9. This interaction contributes to their antagonistical functions on leaf blade outgrowth by competing for the same cis-elements in the promoter of their common target in M. truncatula and N. sylvestris. Here, we identified the main interaction domains of STF and MtWOX9 in Medicago, shedding light on the mechanism of WOX gene function. The middle domain of STF and MtWOX9 are both critical for the interaction, while the conserved motif of STF in the C-terminal domain is also required. Deletion of the middle domain of STF partially rescued the leaf blade phenotypes of the stf null mutant, indicating that the middle domain plays an essential role during leaf blade expansion. This finding provides a new insight that the versatility of WOX function is not only caused by the conserved DNA binding and repression domains but also by the middle domain that recruits different partners., (© 2024 Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.)