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Depth estimation from monocular video plays a crucial role in scene perception. The significant drawback of supervised learning models is the need for vast amounts of manually labeled data (ground truth) for training. To overcome this limitation, unsupervised learning strategies without the requirement for ground truth have achieved extensive attention from researchers in the past few years. This paper presents a novel unsupervised framework for estimating single-view depth and predicting camera motion jointly. Stereo image sequences are used to train the model while monocular images are required for inference. The presented framework is composed of two CNNs (depth CNN and pose CNN) which are trained concurrently and tested independently. The objective function is constructed on the basis of the epipolar geometry constraints between stereo image sequences. To improve the accuracy of the model, a left-right consistency loss is added to the objective function. The use of stereo image sequences enables us to utilize both spatial information between stereo images and temporal photometric warp error from image sequences. Experimental results on the KITTI and Cityscapes datasets show that our model not only outperforms prior unsupervised approaches but also achieving better results comparable with several supervised methods. Moreover, we also train our model on the Euroc dataset which is captured in an indoor environment. Experiments in indoor and outdoor scenes are conducted to test the generalization capability of the model.

Edible fungus is a large fungus distributed all over the world and used as food and medicine. But people's understanding of edible fungi is not as much as that of ordinary crops, so people have started a number of research on edible fungi in recent years. With the development of science and technology, omics technology has gradually walked into people's vision. Omics technology has high sensitivity and wide application range, which is favored by researchers. The application of omics technology to edible fungus research is a major breakthrough, which has transferred edible fungus research from artificial cultivation to basic research. Now omics technology in edible fungi has been flexibly combined with other research methods, involving multiple studies of edible fungus, such as genetic breeding, growth and development, stress resistance, and the use of special components in edible fungus as pharmaceutical additives. It is believed that in the future, the research of edible fungi will also be brought to a deeper level with the help of omics technology. This paper introduces the application progress of modern omics technology to the study on edible fungi and mentions the application prospect of edible fungi research with the constant development of omics technology, thereby providing ideas for the follow-up in-depth research on edible fungi.

Sinopodophyllum hexandrum, a perennial rhizomatous herb that produces the anti-cancer metabolite podophyllotoxin (PPT), is distributed in the Himalayan region. While greater plant growth and PPT accumulation is observed at higher compared with lower elevations, the mechanism responsible for elevation-dependent growth promotion and PPT biosynthesis has not been reported. Here, the de novo sequenced transcriptome of S. hexandrum is described. When plants were grown at 3300 versus 2300 m above sea level (asl), a total of 53,691 unigenes were generated and 736 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were observed. DEGs (357) were identified with 234 characterized genes showing greater up than down regulation, 171 versus 63, respectively. Functional annotation classified 23 DEGs involved in PPT biosynthesis, including phenylpropanoid enzymes: phenylalanine ammonia layse (PAL), cinnamyl alcohol-dehydrogenase (CAD), dirigent protein (DIR), pinoresinol-lariciresinol reductase (PLR), CYP719A23, CYP71CU1, and 2-oxoglutarate/Fe(II)-dependent dioxygenase (2-ODD) which directly participate in PPT biosynthesis. Over 200 DEGs that participate in plant growth and development are categorized into: cell morphogenesis, bio-signaling, primary metabolism, photosynthesis/energy, transcription/polynucleotide metabolism, translation/protein synthesis, transport, and stress tolerance. This transcriptomic analysis provides insight into the mechanism that enhances plant growth and PPT accumulation in S. hexandrum under higher elevation conditions.

Podophyllum hexandrum, a perennial alpine herb produces the anti-cancer metabolite podophyllotoxin (PPT) that is in large part responsible for the plant’s endangered species status. Since PPT commercial production via chemical synthesis, biotechnological intervention and/or cultivation by ex situ conditions have yet to meet the ever-increasing demand for this potent anticancer drug, identifying cultivation practices to improve PPT accumulation is essential. While P. hexandum is indigenous to the mountainous Himalayan region of Asia, effect of elevations on plant growth and PPT accumulation has not been systematically investigated. Here is reported plant growth and PPT production at two elevations: 2300 and 3300 m. To dissect genetic versus environmental conditions responsible for enhanced growth at the higher elevation, plants adapted to each elevation were transplanted to the alternative site. Aerial and rhizome dry-weight was 1.4- to 2.0-fold and 1.2- to 2.0-fold greater, respectively at the 3300 m versus the 2300-m site for 3- to 5-year-old plants. Other growth parameters including leaf area, rhizome length/diameter, number of petioles, root and fruit per plant and fruit dry weight per plant showed an increased value at the higher elevation. PPT content in the aerial portions and rhizomes for all years studied was greater at the 3300 m with 2.2- to 5.3-fold and 2.2- to 3.5-fold on a per plant basis compared to the 2300-m site. Based on the plant’s perennial and fruiting characteristics, a sustainable harvesting scheme that includes the plant’s aerial portions, rhizomes and seeds is proposed for improving PPT yield without over harvesting of this endangered species.

Sinopodophyllum hexandrum is a perennial rhizomatous herb and its rhizome produces anti-cancer compound podophyllotoxin (PPT). As a result of overexploitation of wild resources and lack of large-scale cultivation, it is currently an endangered species. An effective and conventional propagation method is by seed, but seed germination is erratic attributed to the barriers from seed coat and thick-walled endosperm. While several proteins and genes that are involved in cell wall loosening and endosperm weakening have been identified, the mechanism responsible for regulating germination has not been systematically mapped. Here, transcriptomics profiles of S. hexandrum during seed germination were performed, genes expression was validated as well as metabolites and hormones were measured. Over one thousand genes were observed to be differentially co-expressed at the five germination stages. Functional annotation classified 67 genes associated with cell wall loosening and endosperm weakening (25), primary metabolism and energy (16), hormone biosynthesis and bio-signaling (15), radicle growth (5), and transcription factor (6). The expression levels of genes involved in hydrolases (i.e. XTHs, GLCs, MANs, EXPAs, AGALs, PECSs and PGs), metabolites (i.e. starch, oligosaccharides, proteins, lipids and fatty acids) and hormones (i.e. GA3, ABA and IAA) were almost consistent with changes of seed water uptake, contents of metabolites and hormones, and cell wall modifications. This combinational analysis of transcriptomics with targeted metabolites and hormones provides new insights into seed germination of S. hexandrum.

To understand the genetic basis of crop economic characteristics, identifying whole-genome quantitative trait loci (QTLs) in breeding resources via genome-wide association studies (GWASs) is important, but conventional GWAS procedures have mainly concentrated on identifying regions of major QTLs. In this study, to reveal whole-genome QTLs controlling cotton fibre quality traits, a total of 1,236,418 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were explored in a natural population of 315 upland cotton accessions using the specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) method, and 13,391 high-quality SNPs were organized into 9244 SNP linkage disequilibrium blocks (SNPLDBs) to develop molecular markers with multiple haplotypes/alleles. A relatively novel procedure for restricted two-stage multi-locus multi-allele GWAS (RTM-GWAS) involving two methods was applied, including multiple environments and four single environments. In total, 75, 77, 66, 66, and 60 significant SNPLDBs associated with the upper half mean length (UHML), fibre strength (FS), fibre micronaire (FM), fibre uniformity index (FUI), and fibre elongation (FE), respectively, were identified via the multiple-environment RTM-GWAS method. Based on these results, the haplotype/allele effects of the significant SNPLDB loci were estimated, and QTL-allele matrices were established to provide the abbreviated genetic composition of the population. Most importantly, nine stable SNPLDB loci were simultaneously detected in multiple environments and two or more single test environments with large –lg(P) values and percentages of explained phenotypic variation. Furthermore, favourable haplotypes/alleles of the nine stable SNPLDB loci were identified, and 79 potential candidate genes related to UHML and FS traits were predicted from RNA-seq data. Favourable haplotypes/alleles, potential candidate genes and QTL-allele matrices can offer important insights into the genetic basis of fibre quality traits in upland cotton and may facilitate the breeding of cotton varieties with excellent fibre quality properties.

Sinopodophyllum hexandrum is a high-altitude perennial medicinal plant that produces the economically-valued anticancer metabolite, podophyllotoxin (PPT). While gene profiling under elevated altitude and low temperature conditions have identified transcriptions associated with increased PPT accumulation, changes in cell structure, with adaptive low-temperature conditions have yet to be identified. In this study, anatomical features including leaf micro- and ultra-structure were investigated by monitoring traits when S. hexandrum seedlings were grown under a cooler temperature (15 °C). Differences in leaf micro- and ultra-structure parameters including stomatal density and shape, chloroplast density as well as the abundance of starch grain, osmiophilic granule and thylakoid grana were observed with the lower temperature. Greater chlorophyll content and higher tissue amounts (e.g. leaf area, number of petioles and root size) were also observed at the cooler temperature. These anatomical and morphological changes were associated with elevated PPT levels on a dry weight and per plant basis, as well increased whole plant fresh and dry weights. To link anatomical and morphological changes with elevated PPT levels, mRNA transcripts encoding for photosynthesis, glyco-metabolism, stress response and PPT biosynthesis select genes were monitored and found to be differentially regulated at 15 versus 22 °C. These cool-temperature anatomical/morphological changes are consistent with S. hexandrum’s capacity to biosynthesize and accumulate elevated PPT in cooler environments.