Seed size and weight are key traits determining crop yield, which often undergo strongly artificial selection during crop domestication. Although seed sizes differ significantly between oil flax and fiber flax, the genetic basis of morphological differences and artificial selection characteristics in seed size remains largely unclear. Here we resequenced 200 flax cultivated accessions to generate a genome variation map based on chromosome assembly reference genomes. We provide evidence that oil flax group is the ancestor of cultivated flax, and the oil-fiber dual purpose group (OF) is the evolutionary intermediate transition state between oil and fiber flax. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were combined with LD Heatmap to identify candidate regions related to seed size and weight, then candidate genes were screened based on detailed functional annotations and estimation of nucleotide polymorphism effects. Using this strategy, we obtained 13 candidate genes related to seed size and weight. Selective sweeps analysis indicates human-involved selection of small seeds during the oil to fiber flax transition. Our study shows the existence of elite alleles for seed size and weight in flax germplasm and provides molecular insights into approaches for further improvement.

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Background Seed weight is a complex yield-related trait with a lot of quantitative trait loci (QTL) reported through linkage mapping studies. Integration of QTL from linkage mapping into breeding program is challenging due to numerous limitations, therefore, Genome-wide association study (GWAS) provides more precise location of QTL due to higher resolution and diverse genetic diversity in un-related individuals. Results The present study utilized 573 breeding lines population with 61,166 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to identify quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) and candidate genes for seed weight in Chinese summer-sowing soybean. GWAS was conducted with two single-locus models (SLMs) and six multi-locus models (MLMs). Thirty-nine SNPs were detected by the two SLMs while 209 SNPs were detected by the six MLMs. In all, two hundred and thirty-one QTNs were found to be associated with seed weight in YHSBLP with various effects. Out of these, seventy SNPs were concurrently detected by both SLMs and MLMs on 8 chromosomes. Ninety-four QTNs co-localized with previously reported QTL/QTN by linkage/association mapping studies. A total of 36 candidate genes were predicted. Out of these candidate genes, four hub genes ( Glyma06g44510, Glyma08g06420, Glyma12g33280 and Glyma19g28070 ) were identified by the integration of co-expression network. Among them, three were relatively expressed higher in the high HSW genotypes at R5 stage compared with low HSW genotypes except Glyma12g33280 . Our results show that using more models especially MLMs are effective to find important QTNs, and the identified HSW QTNs/genes could be utilized in molecular breeding work for soybean seed weight and yield. Conclusion Application of two single-locus plus six multi-locus models of GWAS identified 231 QTNs. Four hub genes ( Glyma06g44510 , Glyma08g06420 , Glyma12g33280 & Glyma19g28070 ) detected via integration of co-expression network among the predicted candidate genes.

Childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) is defined by the development of first psychotic symptoms by age 12. While recruiting patients with COS refractory to conventional treatments for a trial of atypical antipsychotic drugs, we discovered a unique case who has a familial t(1;7)(p22;q21) reciprocal translocation and onset of psychosis at age 9. The patient also has symptoms of autistic disorder, which are usually transient before the first psychotic episode among 40-50% of the childhood schizophrenics but has persisted in him even after the remission of psychosis. Cosegregating with the translocation, among the carriers in the family available for the study, are other significant psychopathologies, including alcohol/drug abuse, severe impulsivity, and paranoid personality and language delay. This case may provide a model for understanding the genetic basis of schizophrenia or autism. Here we report the progress toward characterization of genomic organization across the translocation breakpoint at 7q21. The polymorphic markers, D7S630/D7S492 and D7S2410/D7S646, immediately flanking the breakpoint, may be useful for further confirming the genetic linkage for schizophrenia or autism in this region. Am. J. Med. Genet. (Neuropsychiatr. Genet.) 96:749-753, 2000. Published 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Directed evolution of a P450 hydroxylase (P450 BSβ ) achieves an engineered enzyme that is able to catalyze C−H oxyfunctionalization of fatty acids (FAs) in a highly regio-and enantioselective fashion (>20:1 Cβ/Cα and > 99% ee in all cases). The biocatalyst displays high reactivity (TON up to 1540), takes inexpensive H 2 O 2 as oxidant, and converts C11−C18 saturated FAs as well as naturally derived unsaturated oleic and linoleic acids to optically pure β-hydroxy FAs. Merging biocatalysis with chemical transformation, we further offer a chemoenzymatic strategy to access valuable FA derivatives bearing 1,3-diol, β-amino, β-lactone, and β-lactam functionalities in either enantiomeric form. Molecular docking studies provide a rationale for the regio-and enantioselectivity of this reaction.