#Morpho-physiological traits

[sanjismuskyarmpits]

a fairly detailed kirby oc ask meme

🪐 (Saturn) - What planet are they from? Is it in Gamble Galaxy, Another Dimension, the Mirror World, the New World, or somewhere else? Where do they live now?

🧃 (Juicebox) - What species are they? What’s their biology and physiology like? Do they differ in any way from a ‘typical’ member of their species?

⚔️ (Crossed Swords) - What weapon(s) do they wield or specialize in, if any in particular? Any special properties? Do their weapons have names or epithets? [e.g. MK’s Galaxia, Morpho’s Doomblade]

🪄 (Magic Wand) - Are they capable of wielding magic? Is it a learned skill, or is it innate? What sorts of spells can they cast? Do they possess any magical items or artifacts? [e.g. the Dimensional Mantle]

💫 (Shooting Star) - If they were to wish on a clockwork star, like Galactic Nova or Star Dream, what would they wish for?

🪽 (Wing) - Can they fly, hover, or levitate? Is it through natural means or artificial means? If they have wings, what do they look and feel like?

🥘 (Stew) - Do they have any favourite foods or comfort foods? What are their eating habits like? If absorbed by the Cook ability, what healing item would they summon?

🧋 (Boba Tea) - Come up with a Kirby Café item themed around your OC! It can be a savoury dish, a drink, a dessert, or something else entirely.

☀️ (Sun) - What’s their morning routine like? Do they take a lot of time getting ready in the morning? How do they groom themselves? What are they having for breakfast?

🌙 (Moon) - Is your OC a particularly light or heavy sleeper? Somewhere in-between? Do they take naps?

🍅 (Tomato) - If Kirby absorbed them or their attacks, what Copy Ability [or Abilities] would he get? Alternatively, if they themselves are capable of using the Copy Ability, do they have a favourite?

⚡️ (Lightning Bolt) - Which Power Effects [Blizzard, Bluster, Sizzle, Splash, Zap] would their attacks grant? Do they have any particular weaknesses or resistances, elemental or otherwise?

🎶 (Music Notes) - Do they play any instruments? What kind of leitmotif and/or battle theme would they have? Are there any songs you associate with them?

💌 (Love Letter) - How easy are they to befriend? Are they more of a social butterfly or a lone wolf?

💥 (Collision) - What’s your OC’s combat style like? Do they adhere to any particular code of honour or ethics in a fight, or are they totally unfettered by that sort of thing?

⚙️ (Gear) - Do they have any knowledge of, or connections to, the Ancients? What do they think of them?

⚖️ (Scales) - On the subject of a certain someone’s lengthy rant; is your OC moreso on the side of magic or science? Somewhere in-between? Do they incorporate the two together in some way?

🍨 (Ice Cream) - The Invader Armour undergoes a drastic transformation depending on its pilot. If they were to wield it, what appearance would their mech take on? What abilities would it have?

🪞 (Mirror) - What would their Mirror World counterpart be like? If they are a Mirror World counterpart, what traits of theirs are reflected? Do the two of them get along?

🐛 (Caterpillar) - What are your OC’s greatest fears, and why? How do they act or react when they’re afraid?

💼 (Bag) - Inventory check! What items does your OC typically carry around with them? What do they carry them in?

🔮 (Crystal Ball) - Out of all the treasures in the Great Cave Offensive, Kirby is letting your OC pick one from his stash to keep! Which one do they pick, and why?

♟️ (Pawn) - Does your OC get possessed easily, or do they have the willpower to fight back against any possible attempts? Have they been possessed before?

🕸️ (Spiderweb) - Create a bouquet inspired by your OC! It can be based on their colour palette, flower language and symbolism, whatever they like best, or any combination of the three.

💜 (Purple Heart) - If they were corrupted by the Jamba Heart, which negative traits of theirs would be amplified?

🩷 (Pink Heart) - If they were a Dream Friend, what would their moveset be like? How much HP do they have? Would they be a strong attacker, or would they take on more of a support role?

🦁 (Lion) - If they were an animal — that is, of the Earth / Shiver Star / New World variety — which animal would they be? If they already are an animal, what real-life species or subspecies are they most similar to?

🕰️ (Clock) - What would a Dreamy Gear version of them look like? What sort of accessories would they have? What kind of role do they play?

🛡️ (Shield) - Which Clash role would your OC pick - Sword Hero, Hammer Lord, Beam Mage, or Doctor Healmore?

🦋 (Butterfly) - Does your OC ‘fear the reaper’, so to speak? If they fused with Morpho Knight, what sort of form would they take on?

🍒 (Cherry) - Out of all of the Dream Friends [Kirby included], which ones would they get along with the most? The least?

🥀 (Wilted Rose) - Do they have a Soul form? What would it look and act like? How much control over themselves do they have? Is it still possible to save them, or are they too far gone?

[maybe-arts]

If you haven't done these for her yet, 🧃💫💥🪞🍒 for Chiffon?

tysm sack<3

🧃 (Juicebox) - What species are they? What’s their biology and physiology like? Do they differ in any way from a ‘typical’ member of their species?

Chiffon is half-Astral, half-Yarna! Yarna are the yarn inhabitants of Patchland, and since Patchland is, weirdly enough, more or less two-dimensional (don't think too hard about how that works), normally their bodies consist of an outline made of string. They gain third dimension in other worlds like Popstar (it was SUPER disorienting for Fluff and Chiffon at first), and in that case appear as three-dimensional figures/dolls made from balled-up yarn.

Chiffon appears normal in Patchland, like Kirby does, minus pair of wings she started growing recently. She didn't know why that was a thing (and Kirby explained it to her later), but after traveling to Popstar she found her answer. Turns out, half-Astrals will always look like regular True Astrals, with exception of various traits from their other parent's species. In Chiffon's case, she got Astral wings and pointy beak/teeth, but Yarna tail (and her father's eyebrows :D).

💫 (Shooting Star) - If they were to wish on a clockwork star, like Galactic Nova or Star Dream, what would they wish for?

She'd probably wish for adventure! Some sort of quest she can go out on, preferably with the team of her new friends. (Although I'd say she got more than she bargained for after getting kidnapped....)

💥 (Collision) - What’s your OC’s combat style like? Do they adhere to any particular code of honour or ethics in a fight, or are they totally unfettered by that sort of thing?

She's extremely mobile and evasive. Given that her main weapons are whip and rapier (both dexterity-based weapons and not very damaging), she has to rely on focusing on weak spots and sometimes play a little dirty. And that is despite being taught to fight properly as a princess.

That being said, she will not kick her opponent while they're down. She does have standards.

🪞 (Mirror) - What would their Mirror World counterpart be like? If they are a Mirror World counterpart, what traits of theirs are reflected? Do the two of them get along?

Okay, so in my Kirbyverse Mirror World is less of a magical dimension created by the mirror and more of an alternate "what if" dimension the access to which is tied to said mirror. The "what if" part is due to several notable events going differently from how they went in the "main" universe (i.e. Psychea started the mutiny instead of Galacta, Galacta was not sealed and instead turned to hunting down any and all traces of Dark Mind in an attempt to finish it off, Morpho avoids its duties as a reaper out of guilt and instead took a pupil ect).

That is to say that Shadow Kirby did not end up with Mirror Fluff (or Prince Seam, as he's known there) and never even met him. Instead, his partner of choice is Bobbin (Mirror Ribbon), who he actually started dating and married before Kirby did it with Fluff. The closest match to being Mirror Chiffon would be Velvet, Skirby and Bobbin's second daughter (first being Yume, who is closer to being mirror!Nova)

She is MUCH younger than Chiffon, tho. She was born soon after Skirby and Bobbin taken in Yume, who in turn was born after Chiffon and Nova's kidnapping (it's a long story). One notable thing about her is her wings - since she's half-fairy, and fairies born as sprite fairies (looking somewhat similar to Navi and the like) before they pupate, Velvet was born with wings, as opposed to fledging later. She learned how to fly before walking even.

She's a timid girl, much less proactive than Chiffon. She'll be much more likely caught with books of magic when she'll grow up, probably enjoying goth witchery aesthetic, who knows ;P

🍒 (Cherry) - Out of all of the Dream Friends [Kirby included], which ones would they get along with the most? The least?

Kirby is a no-brainer, since he's her dad. Same with Gooey, since he's a funny uncle figure!

Dedede and Meta are grandparents (plus Meta is swordplay teacher), so Chiffon likes being around them too <3

Surprising picks of getting along would be probably Daroach (cmon. he's just like all of those dashing phantom thief types from her favorite books!) and Mage Sisters (girls who kick ass and have magic!!)

The least likely to get along would be Dameta, actually (she's still afraid of Mirror World, and he's kinda mean).

[tsmom1219]

Above- and below-ground morpho-physiological traits indicate that biochar is a potential peat substitute for grapevine cuttings nursery production

Baronti, S., Montagnoli, A., Beatrice, P. et al. Above- and below-ground morpho-physiological traits indicate that biochar is a potential peat substitute for grapevine cuttings nursery production. Scientific Reports 14, 17185 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-67766-4 Abstract The growing demand for grapevine planting materials, due to growing global viticulture, is promoting research…

[evoldir]

Job: Toulouse_CNRS.ResAssit.PlantEvol

*JOB OFFER* *Research Assistant* Plant experiments and survey in nature *General informations *Lab: UMR5174 EDB Evolution and Biological Diversity http://bit.ly/2qxMOH4 Place: Toulouse (31) Publication: 19/05/2017 Type of contract: short term contract Duration of contract: 2 years Date of hiring wanted: 1st September 2017 Workload: Full-time Desired level of education: Bachelor's degree or higher Experience: 3 to 5 years Salary: approximately 2000 € gross rate / 1700 € net rate monthly (for experience of at least 3-5 years) *Mission *The research assistant will be part of the EDB lab (Pujol's research group) and the ANGI ERC project. The objective of this project is to investigate the impact of non-genetic inheritance on the ability to adapt to environmental constraints of /Antirrhinum majus/ (Muflier), both in natural populations and through experiments in controlled conditions. *activities *- Organization and realization of plant experiments in controlled conditions: Preparation, management, implementation and monitoring of the experiment, cultivation, controled crosses, morpho-physiological measurements and tissue sampling. - Organization and realization of population surveys in the wild: measuring phenotypic (vegetative and reproductive) traits and sampling tissues. Use of GPS equipment for localization. - Molecular biology work: DNA extraction, microsatellite markers PCR and genotyping. - Management and analysis of the data collected and preparation of reports and oral presentations of the activities and results, participation in the writing of scientific articles. *skills *- General knowledge in evolutionary ecology and population genetics. - To master the tools for studying the biology of plant populations, the evolutionary ecology of natural plant populations and population genetics. - Knowledge of several techniques for collecting and analyzing data related to the study (statistics, morphometry, tissue sampling, molecular biology, GIS, computer tool, etc.). - adapt his/her activity to the project and manage the experiments (adapt the protocols according to the problems, operational knowledge of the rules and practices, draw up dashboards and files to follow-up the funding allocated, manage a team of students and specify the roles and objectives of each student). *Context *The Lab Evolution & Diversité Biologique is a joint CNRS / ENSFEAE / IRD / Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier research unit. A part of the work will be done outside the site of Paul Sabatier University on the experimental platforms available for the cultivation of plants under controlled conditions (CNRS experimental station at Moulis) and outdoors (monitoring populations near Peyriac de mer / Bages, in the region "Occitanie" and possibly North East of Spain), possibly in rough conditions. The recruited research assistant will be potentially associated with the devellopment and the management of the project as well as with the publication of the results obtained (under condition of involvement). Please contact Benoit Pujol (benoit.pujol@univ-tlse3.fr) by sending a CV, a letter of motivation and contact details (email and phone) of two contacts for references. Deadline for application: 15/06/2017. An interview will be scheduled soon after this date for the selected applicants. via Gmail

[oaresearchpaper]

Baichi (Flacourtia indica) Morpho-physiological Characteristics and Yield

Abstract

An investigation was undertaken to evaluate the various morpho–physiological traits and yield contributing characters of baichi germplasms (GP) at Patuakhali Science and Technology University (PSTU). A number of baichi seedlings collected from different homesteads of Patuakhali coast were conserved at PSTU Germplasm Centre. Among the five survived germplasms (GP₁˗GP₅), two were male (GP₂ and GP₄) and the remaining three were female (GP₁, GP₃ and GP₅). The longest leaf length (4.45cm) was exhibited in GP₄. Maximum leaf blade width (2.83cm) was observed in GP₅. Although all the studied germplasms flowered at age 7, however, flower bud initiation started in male plants during the first week of February and continued to the last week of March and in female plants, it was started during the second week of February and continued to the mid of March. Length of flower bud was noticed among female genotypes of GP₅ (4.67mm), GP1 (4.65mm) and GP3 (4.62mm). Importantly, the flowers were apetalous in both male and female cases of all five germplasms. The highest fruit set (74.83%) and the fruit retention (80.88%) were recorded in GP₃ while the lowest fruit set (69.51%) and fruit retention (77.16%) were noticed in GP1. GP₅ had the biggest individual fruit size (11.24mm × 12.10mm), maximum edible portion (78.57%) and the highest fruit yield (10.5kg/plant) while the lowest individual fruit weight (1.19 gm) and fruit yield (8.6 10.5kg/plant) were observed in GP3. Based on the morpho–physiological traits among the three fruiting plants it may conclude that GP₅ was superior over other fruiting plants in relation to fruit size, edible part, individual fruit weight and yield. Therefore, a performance grading of the three female plants on the basis of yield can be as follows: GP₅ > GP₁ > GP₃.

Introduction

Flacourtia indica belonging to the family Selicaceae is one of the underutilized indigenous fruits of Bangladesh. Its common name is governor’s plum. It is locally known as baichi or “kantabohori” that is believed to be native to much of Africa and tropical and temperate parts of Asia. Baichi is an erect, branched, more or less spiny shrub or small tree. This species is dioecious in nature. Baichi produces fruit that is eaten fresh and has a pleasant rather sour taste. The fruits make a good jelly with the seeds and skin being discarded (Tredgold, 1986). The fruit can be fermented to produce wine. Fruits are used as appetizing, diuretic, and digestive, in jaundice and enlarged spleen. Barks are used for the treatment of intermittent fever and are also believed to be effective for arthritis. Roots are used in nephritic colic and gum is used in cholera (Kirtikar and Basu, 1998, Nazneen et al., 2002). The leaves and roots are used in herbal medicine for treatment of snakebite. Most parts of the plant are used for cough, pneumonia, and bacterial throat infection. After child birth among the poor the seeds is grind to powder with turmeric and rubbed all over the body to prevent rheumatic pains from exposure to damp winds. Pharmacological investigation includes the assessment of antihistaminic activity of ethanolic leaf extract of baichi in experimental guinea pig model (Tyagi et al., 2011). Gum is administered along with other ingredients in cholera. The glistening leaves of baichi can be very attractive when the tree is planted as an ornamental. When closely planted, it forms a close impenetrable barrier that serves as a hedge; it tolerates frequent trimming.

People of Bangladesh are generally poorly nourished despite substantial increase of food production in the country over past few decades. Most people suffer from mal–nutrition and resultant diseases. Ceaseless effort is therefore needed to improve the nutritional status and to increase food security, particularly for the rural poor (FAO, 1992). If minor food crops are properly utilized; they may help to contribute in food security, nutrition, health, income generation and environmental services (Kunkel, 1984). Wild fruits add variations in diets improve the palatability of staple foods and provide essential vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Wild fruits of Flacourtia jangomas add variations in diets improve the palatability of staple foods and provide protein (3.9%), carbohydrates (21%), vitamin C (218mg), calcium (175mg), potassium (158mg), phosphorous (147mg), iron (118), and magnesium (57mg) per 100 gm dry weight basis (Hossain et al., 2011; Baruah and Neog, 2016).

Sarker et al. (2015) reported a wide range of fruit diversity in Patuakhali coast of Bangladesh, of which most species were minor ones. Despite the many beneficial characteristics baichi is overlooked as a fruit plant and there is no organized orcharding and no recognized cultivars for this fruit crops. As a result baichi is in the verge of extinction. The main reasons for the under–utilization of germplasm, according to curators, scientists and other users of plant genetic resources, is the lack of adequate passport, characterization, and evaluation data; people cannot use genetic resources that lack essential information. Therefore, the accurate documentation of information about the origin, characterization, and performance of this germplasm is essential for effective conservation and use (Biodiversity, 2007). Considering the problem statements, the present study was undertaken with the objective to find out the morpho–physiologically improved baichi germplasm (s) with higher yield contributing traits.

Source : Baichi (Flacourtia indica) Morpho-physiological Characteristics and Yield | InformativeBD

[oaresearchpaper]

Heat Tolerance and Early Flowering QTLs Validation in IR64 Rice

Abstract

Heat stress reduces rice yield by 10% for every degree Celsius increase beyond optimum temperature. Field testing of IR64-derived near-isogenic lines with heat tolerance and early morning flowering QTLs was conducted at CSU Piat during hottest months of 2016-2017. To evaluate how well IR64 NILs tolerated heat, morpho-agronomic data were collected and analyzed when they were subjected to high temperature at field conditions. Flower opening time (FOT), the peak flowering time (PFT), and the time when all of the flowers are closed (FCT) were also determined for early morning flowering traits (EMF). Results showed that morpho-agronomic features of IR64-derived NILs such panicle length, number of tillers per hill, spikelet fertility, spikelet/panicle, plant height, days to 50% flowering and maturity were similar when compared to its recurrent parent. Moreover, EMF traits results revealed that IR64HT+EMF and IR64EMF NILs exhibited the earliest FOT, PFT, and CFT. This research under high temperature field condition clearly validated the heat tolerance performance of IR64-derived NILs had similar morpho-agronomic traits compared to its recurrent parent indicating recovery of recurrent parent genome. Furthermore, IR64HT+EMF and IR64EMF NILs exhibited the earliest FOT, PFT, and CFT indicating that the presence of qEMF3 and its combination with qHTSF4.1 strongly confers EMF traits as an escape mechanism from heat stress. The researchers recommend the use of genetic materials with combined genes of heat tolerance (qHTSF4.1) and early morning flowering (qEMF3) for these are useful germplasm for future and expected global warming.

Introduction

In rice, temperature above optimum levels affects all growth stages. Among these, the flowering stage is considered the most sensitive stage to high temperature (Satake and Yoshida, 1978; Yoshida et al., 1981). Heat-induced spikelet sterility results if the sensitive physiological processes of anther dehiscence, pollination, pollen germination on the stigma, and pollen tube growth are aggravated (Wassmann et al., 2009a). In the study of Jagadish et al. (2007), sterility was induced for less than 30 minutes of exposure to 35°C ambient temperature and 33.7°C spikelet tissue temperature during anthesis. However when spikelets opened either before or for more than an hour after the onset and exposure of high temperature, they were unaffected by the heat treatment (Jagadish et al., 2007).

Flowering is the most sensitive stage to high temperature in the rice life cycle. High temperature of over 35°C at flowering stage increases pollen and spikelet sterility, which leads to significant yield losses, low grain quality, and low harvest index. Large cultivar variation exists in the spikelet sensitivity to high temperature damage, and the primary cause of this cultivar variation in high temperature (heat) tolerance at flowering is the number of viable pollen grains shed on the stigma, resulting from the changes in the extent of anther dehiscence, which directly affect the spikelet fertility and grain yield. Thus, spikelet fertility under high temperature has been widely used as a screening index for heat tolerance at reproductive stage.

Heat tolerance is the ability of the plant to grow, develop, and produce an economic yield under high temperature stress (Wahid et al., 2007; Paupiere et al., 2014). There are three basic mechanisms of heat tolerance in plants: (1) true heat tolerance, where plants can shed a large amount of pollen or viable pollen able to germinate under heat stress and (2) heat avoidance, where the plant performs its sensitive functions (ie. fertilization) before the onset of the stress (Yoshida et al., 1981; Ishimaru et al., 2010). The latter can be done by several ways: macroescape (heading during the cooler parts of the season), and microescape (anther dehiscence occurring during the cooler parts of the morning) (Wassmann et al., 2009a); and (3) heat escape, by changing leaf orientation, efficient transpirational cooling of the canopy, reduction in non-photosynthetic energy intercepted by the canopy, and reflection of solar radiation (Bahuguna et al., 2014).

Significant genotypic variation had also been found for time of day of flowering (TDF) and early morning flowering (EMF) or peak anthesis in rice germplasm. It has been reported that O. glaberrima is an EMF wild rice species with the ability to flower immediately after dawn, and with more than 90% of spikelets nearing anthesis by 0900H (Prasad et al., 2006). Interspecific crosses were made between O. glaberrima and O. sativa, which produced lines that had significantly earlier peak anthesis hours than the original parent (Yoshida et al., 1981). Ishimaru et al. (2010) successfully introgressed the EMF trait from another wild rice, O. officinalis into Koshihikari (O. sativa), and the produced Koshihikari + EMF line can open its spikelets 2 hours earlier than the Koshihikari wild type. This adaptation allowed the line to garner higher spikelet fertility than others popular varieties lacking the EMF trait. The produced EMF introgression line was used to develop near-isogenic lines of Nanjing 11 (temperate cultivar) and IR64 (tropical/subtropical cultivar) and successfully and stably exhibited the EMF trait (Hirabayashi et al., 2014).

Redoña et al. (2009) expressed that identifying the quantitative trait loci (QTL) for heat tolerance and employing marker-assisted selection (MAS) could compensate for the difficulty of field screening and significantly improve the overall efficiency of the breeding process. Genomic techniques and tools like MAS can ease selection of target traits, that can be used to (1) identify, quantify, and characterize genetic variation; (2) tag, clone, and introgress genes and/or QTL; and (3) manipulate (eg. pyramid, integrate) genetic variation in breeding populations (Xu and Crouch, 2008). Genetic mapping studies for EMF and heat-tolerant QTLs during the reproductive stage of different rice populations have been undertaken (Jagadish et al., 2008; Ishimaru et al., 2010; Jagadish et al., 2010a; Xiao et al., 2011; Ye et al., 2012; Hirabayashi et al., 2014; Ye et al., 2016). In the mapping study conducted by Ye et al. (2012), four major heat-tolerance QTLs were identified from the progeny of IR64 x N22 cross, to which N22 is the heat-tolerant variety. Of the four chromosomal locations identified, QTLsqHTSF1.1 (on chromosome 1 of IR 64) and qHTSF4.1 (on chromosome 4 of N22) were confirmed to have the most significant role for increasing spikelet fertility under high temperature (Ye et al., 2012) and were found to be very close to major QTLs identified in the studies of Jagadish et al. (2010a) and Xiao et al. (2011). Between the two QTLs, plants with the qHTSF4.1 exhibited higher spikelet fertility than other genotypes, and was also detected and confirmed by Ye, et al. (2016) in an IR64/Giza 178 bi-parental cross and IR64/Milyang/Giza 178 three-way cross, suggesting its potential significance in enhancing heat tolerance of rice during the flowering stage.

Some species of wild rice were found to flower early in the morning, such as O. glaberrima (A genome), O. rufipogon (A genome), and O. officinalis (C genome) (Yoshida et al., 1981; Ishimaru et al., 2010; Thanh et al., 2010). The group of Ishimaru et al. (2010) transferred the EMF trait from O. officinalis into the genetic background of O. sativa cv. Koshihikari, producing EMF20, an introgression line. The EMF20 was crossed with Nanjing 11. Using SSR markers, significant QTLs were identified on chromosome 3 (qEMF3) and chromosome 8 (qEMF8). Comparison of the recurrent parent and near-isogenic lines with the qEMF3 showed that the EMF20 allele of the QTL significantly advanced the flowering opening time (FOT) by 1.5-2.0 hours.

Developing near-isogenic lines (NILs) are advantageous in evaluating the effect of the QTLs on the phenotype (marker-trait association). Gene expression can change during morpho-physiological and reproductive development as well as when subjected to biotic and abiotic stresses. Validation of the function of the introgressed QTLs in NILs will allow breeders to optimize phenotypic selection procedures (Xu and Crouch, 2008).

This study aimed to determine the effect of QTLs for heat tolerance (qHTSF4.1), EMF trait (qEMF3) and a combination of the two QTLs, introduced into the background of IR64 (O. sativa) on (1) the floret morphophysiological responses when flowering is exposed to elevated temperatures; (2) agronomic characters, and (3) spikelet fertility and grain yield of the lines.

Source : Heat Tolerance and Early Flowering QTLs Validation in IR64 Rice | InformativeBD