Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is highly endemic in the Chinese province of Qinghai, located on the Tibetan Plateau. The Echinococcus granulosus sheep strain has already been reported in this focus. To improve our understanding of the role the parasite plays in the high prevalence observed in humans, we assessed the genetic polymorphism of 55 E. granulosus samples (37 from humans) using three discriminative mitochondrial markers: coxI, nadI and atp6. We obtained a total of 13 distinct genotypes which were all related to the common sheep G1 strain. Six of these genotypes have already been reported in China and other foci around the world. The remaining seven genotypes were new variants of the strain. The parasite population which was studied in the present work did not differ substantially from those observed in other foci of CE. Environmental conditions and human behaviour could explain the high incidence of the parasitic disease, particularly in the Tibetan population in the south of Qinghai, most of whom are livestock farmers.

Background Buffaloes' energy status is a vital attribute influencing their phenotypic traits and overall health. Mitochondria, primarily through oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), contribute significantly to energy generation; both nuclear (nDNA) and mitochondrial (mtDNA) genomes are involved in OXPHOS process. Previous studies from our laboratory have reported tissue heterogeneity in buffaloes, particularly in mitochondrial functional attributes, is influenced by the mtDNA. Furthermore, there is evidence of higher OXPHOS complex I activity and expression of OXPHOS complex I genes encoded by the mtDNA in various buffalo tissues. Complex I is the largest and mostly involved in energy generation and maintenance of reactive oxygen species. This largest OXPHOS complex consists of proteins encoded by both nDNA and mtDNA. Currently, the tissue-specific expression of nDNA encoded OXPHOS complex I genes expression in metabolically active tissues of buffalo are not well understood. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the tissue-specific expression of nDNA-encoded OXPHOS complex I genes in buffaloes. Methods and Results To analyze the expression of the OXPHOS complex I genes encoded by nDNA across the various tissues to gain insight into tissue-specific diversity in energy metabolism, RNA-Seq was performed on total RNA extracted from kidney, heart, brain, and ovary of four buffaloes, subsequently identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in various tissues comparison. Out of 57 identified OXPHOS complex I genes encoded by nDNA, 51 genes were found to be expressed in each tissue. Comparative analysis revealed 12 DEGs between kidney and brain, 30 for kidney vs ovary, 26 for kidney vs heart, 20 for heart vs brain, 38 for heart vs ovary, and 26 for brain vs ovary, with log2(FC)≥1 and p<0.05. Notably, compared to the ovary, other tissues such as the heart, kidney cortex, and brain exhibited a higher proportion of up-regulated OXPHOS complex I genes. The finding of nuclear derived OXPHOS complex I genes expression of our study showed a close relation with our earlier published report from our laboratory concerning OXPHOS complex I activity. Conclusions Our findings revealed substantial changes in OXPHOS complex I subunit gene expression encoded by nDNA across tissues, with up-regulation of specific genes potentially reflecting increased metabolic needs or adaptation to specific roles. These tissue-specific differential expression patterns of OXPHOS complex I subunit-related genes provide valuable insights into the importance of their integrity for tissue-specific energy requirements, mitochondrial function, and their implications for buffalo's productive and reproductive health.

In this study, we employed electron microscopy to investigate the cytogenetic and embryologic mechanisms of parthenogenesis induced in the 1BL/1RS male sterile lines of wheat. Analysis of the root tips and acid polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that all of the male sterile lines and their maintainer lines were 1BL/1RS translocation lines, whereas the restorer lines were non-1BL/1RS translocation lines. Furthermore, the chromosomes of 1BL/1RS wheat lines with T. aestivum cytoplasm and Aegilops cytoplasm (include Ae. kotschyi, Ae. ventricosa, Ae. variabilis) paired abnormally at different rates during meiotic metaphase I (MMI). The translocated segment size of the 1RS chromosome and the specific nuclear-alloplasm interaction impaired the pairing of homologous chromosome in the background of the specific Aegilops cytoplasm at MMI. In addition, the frequency of abnormal chromosomal pairing was directly affected by the frequency of haploid production induced by parthenogenesis. The results of this study provide significant insights into the mechanism of parthenogenesis, which is probably due to the abnormal fertilization of synergid cells in alloplasmic 1BL/1RS wheat.