Modeling soybean growth: A mixed model approach.

The evaluation of plant and animal growth, separately for genetic and environmental effects, is necessary for genetic understanding and genetic improvement of environmental responses of plants and animals. We propose to extend an existing approach that combines nonlinear mixed-effects model (NLMEM) and the stochastic approximation of the Expectation-Maximization algorithm (SAEM) to analyze genetic and environmental effects on plant growth. These tools are widely used in many fields but very rarely in plant biology.

Ultrastructure Expansion Microscopy applied to embryos.

Visualization of organelles using expansion microscopy has been previously applied to adult gonads or worms. However, its application to embryos has remained a challenge due to the protective eggshell barrier. Here, by combining freeze-cracking and ultrastructure expansion microscopy (U-ExM), we demonstrate a four-time isotropic expansion of embryos.

Acyl-Ethynylbenziodoxolone (acyl-EBX): Access to Ketene Dithioarylacetals.

We report the synthesis of ketene dithioarylacetals in 40-97% yield using thiophenols and acyl-EBXs (ethynylbenziodoxolones) generated from a common hypervalent iodine precursor and alkynyl trifluoroborate salts. The products could be further modified to afford functionalized ketene dithioacetals and various -substituted heterocycles.

Cosegregation of recombinant chromatids maintains genome-wide heterozygosity in an asexual nematode.

In asexual animals, female meiosis is modified to produce diploid oocytes. If meiosis still involves recombination, this is expected to lead to a rapid loss of heterozygosity, with adverse effects on fitness. Many asexuals, however, have a heterozygous genome, the underlying mechanisms being most often unknown.