Padilla Hassing (drakechive3)

on behalf of the Botanical Society of America.Premise Pteroceltis tatarinowii (Ulmaceae), the only species of the genus Pteroceltis, is an endangered tree in China. Here, novel expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers were developed to illuminate its genetic diversity for conservation and assisted breeding. Methods and Results Based on Illumina transcriptome data from P. tatarinowii, a total of 70 EST-SSR markers were initially designed and tested. Forty-eight of 70 loci (68.6%) were successfully amplified, of which 20 were polymorphic. The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to six, and the levels of observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.018 to 0.781 and from 0.023 to 0.702, respectively. Additionally, cross-amplification was successful for 17 loci in two related species, Ulmus gaussenii and U. chenmoui. Conclusions These new EST-SSR markers are valuable transcriptomic resources for P. tatarinowii and will facilitate population genetics and molecular breeding of this species and its relatives in Ulmaceae. © 2020 Zhang et al. Applications in Plant Sciences is published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the Botanical Society of America.Background Criterion-referenced cut-points for field-based aerobic fitness for children and adolescents are lacking. This study aimed to determine the associations between aerobic fitness and obesity to propose criterion-referenced cut-points for boys and girls (6-17 years). Methods A total of 61,465 children and adolescents aged 11.2 ± 2.0 years were recruited from 27 sites (all 26 states and Federal District) across Brazil. Aerobic fitness was assessed using 9-min walk/run test reported as distance attained during the test. Body mass index was calculated from measured height and weight and was used to identify obesity. Results The distance covered in the 9-min walk/run test (area under curve > 0.65) had satisfactory predictive ability for obesity. Sensitivity and specificity were moderate (>60%) to strong (>70%) for all age- and sex-specific cut-points. For boys, the optimal physical performance cut-points were, approximately, 1,200 m from 6 to 8 years, 1,300 m from 9 to 11 years, 1,380 m from 12 to 14 years, 1,520 m from 15 to 17 years. For girls, the best cut-points were, approximately, 1,070 m from 6 to 8 years, 1,160 m from 9 to 11 years and 1,200 m from 12 to 17 years. Conclusions The 9-min walk/run test had satisfactory predictive ability for obesity in children and adolescents. The physical fitness cut-points proposed in the present study varied according to age and sex and could be useful and practical tools to identify low levels of physical fitness in children and adolescents in Brazil. © 2020 Silva et al.The Manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) is an economically important molluscan bivalve with variation in pigmentation frequently observed in the shell. In nature, tyrosinase is widely distributed in invertebrates and vertebrates, and plays a crucial role in a variety of physiological activities. In this study, a tyrosinase gene (tyr 9) was cloned and the expression level of tyr genes (tyr 6, tyr 9, tyr 10, and tyr 11) were investigated in different shell colors. Quantitative real-time PCR showed that tyr genes were significantly expressed in the mantle, a shell formation and pigmentation-related tissue. Moreover, the expression pattern of the tyr genes in the mantle of different shell-color strains was different, suggesting that tyrosinases might be involved in different shell-color formation. In addition, the expression profile of tyr 6, tyr 9, tyr 10, and tyr 11 genes were detected at different early developmental stages and the expression level varied with embryonic and larval growth. RNA interference (RNAi) results showed that the expression level of tyr 9 in the RNAi group was significantly down-regulated compared to control and negative control groups, indicating that Rptyr 9 might participate in shell-color fo