Search

Cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) has a rich history of human use, and the therapeutic importance of compounds produced by this species is recognized by the medical community. The active constituents of cannabis, collectively called cannabinoids, encompass hundreds of distinct molecules, the most well-characterized of which are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), which have been used for centuries as recreational drugs and medicinal agents. As a first step to establish a cannabis breeding program, we initiated this study to describe the HPLC-measured quantity of THC and CBD biochemistry profiles of 161 feral pistillate cannabis plants from 20 geographical regions of Iran. Our data showed that Iran can be considered a new region of high potential for distribution of cannabis landraces with diverse THC and CBD content, predominantly falling into three groups, as Type I = THC-predominant, Type II = approximately equal proportions of THC and CBD (both CBD and THC in a ratio close to the unity), and Type III = CBD-predominant. Correlation analysis among two target cannabinoids and environmental and geographical variables indicated that both THC and CBD contents were strongly influenced by several environmental-geographical factors, such that THC and CBD contents were positively correlated with mean, min and max annual temperature and negatively correlated with latitude, elevation, and humidity. Additionally, a negative correlation was observed between THC and CBD concentrations, suggesting that further studies to unravel these genotype × environment interactions (G × E interactions) are warranted. The results of this study provide important pre-breeding information on a collection of cannabis that will underpin future breeding programs.

The current research explored the biocontrol ability of two strains of Trichoderma fungi on infected Freesia corm by Fusarium disease. Enhancements in plant growth and performance were evaluated in response to the Trichoderma fungi in laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Laboratory experiments included five Trichoderma strains, i.e., T1, T20, and Th4, related to T. harzianum species, T2 related to T. atroviride species, and Tvi related to T. virens species. A dual culture test and investigation of the inhibition and colonization rate were carried out with 11 treatments in three replications. Results revealed that strains T1 and T2 completely covered the pathogen in 96 h of culture by 70.02% and 68.98% and successfully inhibited the colonization of the disease agent by 84.53% and 82.72%, respectively, compared to the other strains. Then, a greenhouse experiment was performed with eight treatments, using suspensions of Trichoderma strains separately or combined with the presence of Fusarium fungus isolate on Freesia cultivation. The results showed that the strains at different levels were able to increase the growth and yield of Freesia plants and control Fusarium disease. In general, the T2 strain was more effective in increasing plant growth and flower stem height in Freesia. The T1 strain specifically improved the corm diameter. Both T1 and T2 strains demonstrated effectiveness in controlling and reducing the severity of Fusarium disease and enhancing the growth quality of Freesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigated important morphological traits of select populations of Iranian fiber hemp. The analysis of variance showed significant diversity among the populations. Four of the eight genotypes showed a large biomass suitable for the fiber industry. Kerman, Sirjan, Dezful, and Arak genotypes had the highest plant height and the largest stem diameter. These populations had late-flowering habits with a short inflorescence length. Our classification revealed that of the four high-fibrous candidates, three were classified in one group, comprising Kerman, Sirjan, and Dezful genotypes. The fourth one, Arak, was placed in the second group. Significantly positive correlations were observed between final plant height, footstalk diameter, and number of days to first-flower emergence. A strong correlation occurred between morphological traits and geographical data pertaining to the genotypes. Our findings indicated that a high elevation and a low average annual temperature are suitable for the growth of medicinal cannabis. Warmer weather made the plants taller with thicker stems and late blooming habits, which are more relevant for use in the fiber industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are transcribed RNA molecules >200 nucleotides in length that do not encode proteins and serve as key regulators of diverse biological processes. Recently, thousands of long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs), a type of lncRNAs, have been identified in mammalians using massive parallel large sequencing technologies. The availability of the genome sequence of sheep (Ovis aries) has allowed us genomic prediction of non-coding RNAs. This is the first study to identify lincRNAs using RNA-seq data of eight different tissues of sheep, including brain, heart, kidney, liver, lung, ovary, skin, and white adipose. A computational pipeline was employed to characterize 325 putative lincRNAs with high confidence from eight important tissues of sheep using different criteria such as GC content, exon number, gene length, co-expression analysis, stability, and tissue-specific scores. Sixty-four putative lincRNAs displayed tissues-specific expression. The highest number oftissues-specific lincRNAs was found in skin and brain. All novel lincRNAs that aligned to the human and mouse lincRNAs had conserved synteny. These closest protein-coding genes were enriched in 11 significant GO terms such as limb development, appendage development, striated muscle tissue development, and multicellular organismal development. The findings reported here have important implications for the study of sheep genome. Keywords: lncRNAs, RNA-seq, comparative genomics, sheep. Les longs ARN non-codants (lncRNA) sont transcrits en molecules d'ARN de >200 nucleotides qui ne codent pour aucune proteine et servent de regulateurs de nombreux processus biologiques. Recemment, des milliers de longs ARN non-codants intergeniques (lincRNA), un type de lncRNA, ont ete identifies chez des mammiferes au moyen des technologies de sequencage a haut debit. La disponibilite de la sequence du genome du mouton (Ovis aries) a permis de realiser une prediction genomique des ARN non-codants. Il s'agit de la premiere etude identifiant des lincRNA au sein de donnees RNA-seq provenant de huit tissus du mouton dont le cerveau, le coeur, les reins, le foie, les poumons, les ovaires, la peau et la graisse blanche. Un pipeline d'analyse a ete employe pour caracteriser avec un haut degre de confiance 325 lincRNA putatifs provenant de ces huit tissus en s'appuyant sur des criteres tels que le contenu en GC, le nombre d'exons, la longueur du gene, la co-expression, la stabilite et les scores de specificite tissulaire. Soixante-quatre lincRNA putatifs montraient une expression tissulaire specifique. Les plus nombreux lincRNA tissus-specifiques ont ete observes chez la peau et le cerveau. Tous les lincRNA inedits qui sont homologues a des lincRNA humains ou murins presentaient une syntenie conservee. Au sein des genes codant pour des proteines qui se montraient les plus semblables, les auteurs ont note un enrichissement significatif pour les termes GO suivants : developpement des membres, developpement des appendices, developpement des muscles stries, developpement des organismes multicellulaires. Ces observations ont des implications importantes pour l'etude du genome ovin. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : lncRNA, RNA-seq, genomique comparee, mouton., Introduction Massive large cDNA sequencing technology or RNA-seq enables comprehensive identification, annotation, and quantification of transcriptome. Human genome-wide projects, such as ENCODE, GENCODE, and FANTOM, have clearly shown that a [...]