The Cannabis Plant as a Complex System: Interrelationships between Cannabinoid Compositions, Morphological, Physiological and Phenological Traits.

Maintaining specific and reproducible cannabinoid compositions (type and quantity) is essential for the production of cannabis-based remedies that are therapeutically effective. The current study investigates factors that determine the plant's cannabinoid profile and examines interrelationships between plant features (growth rate, phenology and biomass), inflorescence morphology (size, shape and distribution) and cannabinoid content. An examination of differences in cannabinoid profile within genotypes revealed that across the cultivation facility, cannabinoids' qualitative traits (ratios between cannabinoid quantities) remain fairly stable, while quantitative traits (the absolute amount of Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabichromene (CBC), cannabigerol (CBG), Δ-tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) and cannabidivarin (CBDV)) can significantly vary.

Delineation of molecular determinants for FR900359 inhibition of G unlocks inhibition of Gα.

Heterotrimeric G proteins are essential mediators of intracellular signaling of G protein-coupled receptors. The G subfamily consists of G, G, G, and G proteins, of which all but G are inhibited by the structurally related natural products YM-254890 and FR900359. These inhibitors act by preventing the GDP/GTP exchange, which is necessary for activation of all G proteins.

Genomic Prediction and Genetic Correlation of Agronomic, Blackleg Disease, and Seed Quality Traits in Canola ( L.).

Genomic selection accelerates genetic progress in crop breeding through the prediction of future phenotypes of selection candidates based on only their genomic information. Here we report genetic correlations and genomic prediction accuracies in 22 agronomic, disease, and seed quality traits measured across multiple years (2015-2017) in replicated trials under rain-fed and irrigated conditions in Victoria, Australia. Two hundred and two spring canola lines were genotyped for 62,082 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) using transcriptomic genotype-by-sequencing (GBSt).

Evaluation and Recommendations for Routine Genotyping Using Skim Whole Genome Re-sequencing in Canola.

Whole genome sequencing offers genome wide, unbiased markers, and inexpensive library preparation. With the cost of sequencing decreasing rapidly, many plant genomes of modest size are amenable to skim whole genome resequencing (skim WGR). The use of skim WGR in diverse sample sets without the use of imputation was evaluated in 149 canola samples representative of global diversity.

Genomic Prediction Using Prior Quantitative Trait Loci Information Reveals a Large Reservoir of Underutilised Blackleg Resistance in Diverse Canola ( L.) Lines.

Genomic prediction is becoming a popular plant breeding method to predict the genetic merit of lines. While some genomic prediction results have been reported in canola, none have been evaluated for blackleg disease. Here, we report genomic prediction for seedling emergence, survival rate, and internal infection), using 532 Spring and Winter canola lines.

Diversity and Genome Analysis of Australian and Global Oilseed L. Germplasm Using Transcriptomics and Whole Genome Re-sequencing.

Intensive breeding of has resulted in relatively low diversity, such that would benefit from germplasm improvement schemes that sustain diversity. As such, samples representative of global germplasm pools need to be assessed for existing population structure, diversity and linkage disequilibrium (LD). Complexity reduction genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) methods, including GBS-transcriptomics (GBS-t), enable cost-effective screening of a large number of samples, while whole genome re-sequencing (WGR) delivers the ability to generate large numbers of unbiased genomic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and identify structural variants (SVs).

Genotyping-by-sequencing through transcriptomics: implementation in a range of crop species with varying reproductive habits and ploidy levels.

The application of genomics in crops has the ability to significantly improve genetic gain for agriculture. Many marker-dense tools have been developed, but few have seen broad adoption in plant genomics due to issues of significant variations of genome size, levels of ploidy, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) frequency and reproductive habit. When combined with limited breeding activities, small research communities and scant sequence resources, the suitability of popular systems is often suboptimal and routinely fails to effectively balance cost-effectiveness and sample throughput.

Increases in the evolutionary potential of upper thermal limits under warmer temperatures in two rainforest Drosophila species.

Tropical and subtropical species represent the majority of biodiversity. These species are predicted to lack the capacity to evolve higher thermal limits in response to selection imposed by climatic change. However, these assessments have relied on indirect estimates of adaptive capacity, using conditions that do not reflect environmental changes projected under climate change.