The nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs) comprise a monophyletic group of viruses that infect animals and diverse unicellular eukaryotes. The NCLDV group includes the families Poxviridae, Asfarviridae, Iridoviridae, Ascoviridae, Phycodnaviridae, Mimiviridae and the proposed family “Marseilleviridae”. The family Mimiviridae includes the largest known viruses, with genomes in excess of one megabase, whereas the genome size in the other NCLDV families varies from 100 to 400 kilobase pairs. Most of the NCLDVs replicate in the cytoplasm of infected cells, within so-called virus factories. The NCLDVs share a common ancient origin, as demonstrated by evolutionary reconstructions that trace approximately 50 genes encoding key proteins involved in viral replication and virion formation to the last common ancestor of all these viruses. Taken together, these characteristics lead us to propose assigning an official taxonomic rank to the NCLDVs as the order “Megavirales”, in reference to the large size of the virions and genomes of these viruses.

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Precision agriculture, and more specifically Site-Specific Crop Management (SSCM), has been implemented in some form across nearly all agricultural production systems over the past 25 years. Adoption has been greatest in developed agricultural countries. In this review article, the current situation of SSCM adoption and application is investigated from the perspective of a developed (UK) and developing (China) agricultural economy. The current state-of-the art is reviewed with an emphasis on developments in position system technology and satellite-based remote sensing. This is augmented with observations on the differences between the use of SSCM technologies and methodologies in the UK and China and discussion of the opportunities for (and limitations to) increasing SSCM adoption in developing agricultural economies. A particular emphasis is given to the role of socio-demographic factors and the application of responsible research and innovation (RRI) in translating agritechnologies into China and other developing agricultural economies. Several key research and development areas are identified that need to be addressed to facilitate the delivery of SSCM as a holistic service into areas with low precision agriculture (PA) adoption. This has implications for developed as well as developing agricultural economies.

The major capsid protein (mcp) gene of Spodoptera exigua ascovirus 5a (SeAV-5a) was confirmed by aphidicolin viral DNA replication inhibition analysis to be a late gene. The 5' and 3' ends of mcp gene transcripts have been mapped. Primer extension analyses indicated that transcription of the mcp gene initiates from a cytosine 25 nucleotides (nt) upstream of the translation start codon. Two independent approaches by 3' rapid amplification of cDNA ends (3' RACE) and oligo (dT) cellulose binding assay suggested that SeAV-5a mcp mRNA is polyadenylated. Analyses by 3' RACE also revealed that mcp transcripts terminate at a U, either at 26 or 38 nt downstream of the translation stop codon. The putative 5' transcription control region of the SeAV-5a mcp gene shares similarities with other ascoviruses and Chilo iridescent virus (CIV), containing a conserved TATA-box-like motif (TAATTAAA) and an ATTTGATCTT motif upstream of it. The 3' downstream regions of the mcp gene of all the ascoviruses examined and CIV can form a stem-loop structure, and the ends of the mcp gene transcripts of SeAV-5a are within the predicted stem-loop region. This suggests that the stem-loop structure of the mcp gene might be involved in transcription termination.

The simian virus 40 polyadenylation signal (SV40 polyA) has been routinely inserted downstream of the polyhedrin promoter in many baculovirus expression vector systems (BEVS). In the baculovirus prototype Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV), the polyhedrin promoter (very late promoter) transcribes its gene by a viral RNA polymerase therefore there is no supporting evidence that SV40 polyA is required for the proper gene expression under the polyhedrin promoter. Moreover, the effect of the SV40 polyA sequence on the polyhedrin promoter activity has not been tested either at its natural polyhedrin locus or in other loci in the viral genome. In order to test the significance of adding the SV40 polyA sequence on gene expression, the expression of the enhanced green fluorescent protein (egfp) was evaluated with and without the presence of SV40 polyA under the control of the polyhedrin promoter at different genomic loci (polyherin, ecdysteroid UDP-glucosyltransferase (egt), and gp37). In this study, spectrofluorometry and western blot showed reduction of EGFP protein for all recombinant viruses with SV40 polyA, whereas qPCR showed an increase in the egfp mRNA levels. Therefore, we conclude that SV40 polyA increases mRNA levels but decreases protein production in the BEVS when the polyhedrin promoter is used at different loci. This work suggests that SV40 polyA in BEVSs should be replaced by an AcMNPV late gene polyA for optimal protein production or left untouched for optimal RNA production (RNA interference applications).

The genus Tamarix  consists of about 54 species that mainly grow in saline areas of deserts and semi-deserts. This genus is chemically characterized by the presence of tannins, flavonoids, anthocyanins and essential oils which interfere with the extraction of pure genomic DNA. Thus it is necessary to optimize extraction protocols to minimize the influence of these compounds to the lowest level. The present study compares the efficiency of five different approaches to extract total genomic DNA in Tamarix species, showing significant differences in the extracted DNA contents and quality,by using  Kit (DNP TM Kit), CTAB DNA extraction method by Murray and Thompson, Sahu et al., Nalini et al. and Bi et al., for the extraction of DNA from Tamarix species. Our results showed significant differences in DNA contents between these five methods. The quantity and quality of extracted genomic DNA were checked by the spectrophotometer, Nano-Drop and and agarose gel electrophoresis analysis. Finally, a PCR-based method was also applied to verify the amplification efficiency for two molecular markers (ITS and ISSR).. In the present study, the genetic diversity of 96 Tamarix individuals species and 8 populations were studied using 10 ISSR markerswhile for nrDNA ITS 8 species samples were used. The method of Nalini et al., provided best results (207 ng/μL) in terms of quantity and quality ofDNA. Our results proposed that this method could be effective for plants with the same polysaccharides, proteins and polyphenols components. The advantage of this method is simple and fast as it does not involve time consuming steps such as incubation at higher temperatures, and also do not requires expensive chemicals such as proteinase K, liquid nitrogen. ,. The success of this method in obtaining high-quality genomic DNA has been demonstrated in the Tamarix species group and the reliability of this method has been discussed.

The Nramp1 gene is an important factor associated with susceptibility to infectious diseases caused by intracellular pathogens. The objective of this study was to determine the structures and sequences of Nramp1 in Tibetan, Gansu Black, Large White, Yorkshire, and Duroc pigs. Sequence analysis of the Nramp1 gene in the five pig breeds revealed the presence of 11 nucleotide variants in intronic regions, 2 nucleotide variants in the control region, 10 nucleotide variants and one deletion in the 3’ non-coding region, and 15 nucleotide variants in the exons. However, only 4 nucleotide variants resulted in amino acid changes. Further analysis predicted that the Tibetan pig Nramp1 protein harbors 10 transmembrane domains. The analysis also predicted 10 serine phosphorylation sites, 3 threonine phosphorylation sites, and 4 tyrosine phosphorylation sites in the Nramp1 protein of Tibetan pigs. Predictions of the Tibetan pig Nramp1 tertiary structure revealed 7 putative a -helices and 5 putative b-sheets. Predictions of the Yorkshire pig Nramp1 protein revealed significant differences compared with the Tibetan pig Nramp1 protein. The results indicated that differences in transmembrane domains and tertiary structures of the Nramp1 protein of the Tibetan and Yorkshire pig breeds could explain differences in the disease resistance of these two breeds