Publications by authors named "Brian E Scheffler"

The soft tick family Argasidae contains vectors of medical and veterinary importance, but few molecular resources are available compared to hard ticks (Ixodidae). One example is Ornithodoros turicata, a recognized vector of Borrelia turicatae, causal agent of human relapsing fever, and a putative vector of African swine fever virus. To address the current lack of molecular resources for the Argasidae, we generated a chromosome-level genome assembly for O.

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A total of 768 molecular markers were developed for (L.) Lam., consisting of 689 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and 79 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

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Fine mapping of the leaf rust susceptibility gene Sph1 identified a receptor-like kinase-encoding gene as a candidate and provided user-friendly markers for barley breeding. Caused by the biotrophic fungal pathogen Puccinia hordei, leaf rust is one of the important foliar diseases in barley. Although a few dominant genes for leaf rust resistance have been identified and cloned in barley, resistance conferred by major genes has been frequently defeated by the pathogen.

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Cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) are popular among anglers throughout their native range along the West Coast and interior of North America. As they colonized the interior of North America, cutthroat trout diverged into several genetically distinct groups. Many of these groups are now threatened by habitat destruction, hybridization with rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and competition from introduced species.

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The genome of the Swanson doubled haploid (DH) YY male line of rainbow trout was de novo assembled using the Canu pipeline, high-coverage PacBio long-read sequence data, Bionano optical maps, and Hi-C proximity ligation sequence data, resulting in 29 major scaffolds aligning with the karyotype of the Swanson line (2 N = 58). This assembly, totaling 2.3 Gb with an N50 of 52.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens, is a significant agricultural pest in North and Central America, but a detailed genome assembly had not been created until now.
  • Researchers successfully developed a chromosome-level genome using advanced sequencing technologies, resulting in a comprehensive assembly of 140 scaffolds that captures essential genetic information.
  • The study also identified sex chromosomes with a focus on evolutionary trends, showing that genes linked to the X chromosome evolve faster than those on autosomes, offering new insights into the evolution of sex chromosomes in these fruit flies.
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Deformed wing virus (DWV) has long been identified as a critical pathogen affecting honeybees, contributing to colony losses through wing deformities, neurological impairments, and reduced lifespan. Since DWV also affects other pollinators, it poses a significant threat to global pollination networks. While honeybees have been the focal point of DWV studies, emerging research indicates that this RNA virus is not host-specific but rather a generalist pathogen capable of infecting a wide range of insect species, including other bee species such as bumblebees and solitary bees, as well as wasps and ants.

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Commercial culture of channel catfish () occurs in earthen ponds that are characterized by diel swings in dissolved oxygen concentration that can fall to severe levels of hypoxia, which can suppress appetite and lead to suboptimal growth. Given the significance of the hypothalamus in regulating these processes in other fishes, an investigation into the hypothalamus transcriptome was conducted to identify specific genes and expression patterns responding to hypoxia. Channel catfish in normoxic water were compared with catfish subjected to 12 h of hypoxia (20% oxygen saturation; 1.

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The genus belongs to the Hydrangeaceae family, in the Cornales order of flowering plants, which early diverged among the Asterids, and includes several species that are commonly used ornamental plants. Of them, is one of the most valuable species in the nursery trade, yet few genomic resources are available for this crop or closely related Asterid species. Two high-quality haplotype-resolved reference genomes of hydrangea cultivars 'Veitchii' and 'Endless Summer' [highest quality at 2.

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As sequencing costs decrease and availability of high fidelity long-read sequencing increases, generating experiment specific genome assemblies becomes feasible. In many crop species, obtaining the genome of a hybrid or heterozygous individual is necessary for systems that do not tolerate inbreeding or for investigating important biological questions, such as hybrid vigor. However, most genome assembly methods that have been used in plants result in a merged single sequence representation that is not a true biologically accurate representation of either haplotype within a diploid individual.

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Background: Muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia) is resistant to many of the pathogens that negatively impact the production of common grape (V. vinifera), including the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa subsp. fastidiosa (Xfsf), which causes Pierce's Disease (PD).

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Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in Northeastern US and Eastern Canada has high economic value for the sport fishing and aquaculture industries. Large differences exist between the genomes of Atlantic salmon of European origin and North American (N.A.

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Cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV) causes devastating losses to fiber production in Central Asia. Viral spread across Asia in the last decade is causing concern that the virus will spread further before resistant varieties can be bred. Current development depends on screening each generation under disease pressure in a country where the disease is endemic.

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The pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), is a major global pest of cotton. Current management practices include chemical insecticides, cultural strategies, sterile insect releases, and transgenic cotton producing crystalline (Cry) protein toxins of the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). These strategies have contributed to the eradication of P.

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Introduction: Virginia-type peanut, , is the second largest market class of peanut cultivated in the United States. It is mainly used for large-seeded, in-shell products. Historically, Virginia-type peanut cultivars were developed through long-term recurrent phenotypic selection and wild species introgression projects.

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Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an insect pest of major cultivated crops in North and South America. The species has adapted to different host plants and developed resistance to several insecticidal agents, including Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal proteins in transgenic cotton and maize. Helicoverpa zea populations persist year-round in tropical and subtropical regions, but seasonal migrations into temperate zones increase the geographic range of associated crop damage.

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is a mycotoxigenic fungus that is a threat to food and feed safety due to its common infection of maize, a global staple crop. A proposed strategy to combat this threat is the use of biological control bacteria that can inhibit the fungus and reduce mycotoxin contamination. In this study, the effect of multiple environmental isolates of on was examined transcriptome analysis.

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The important cereal crops of maize, rye, and wheat constitutively produce precursors to 2-benzoxazolinone, a phytochemical having antifungal effects towards many species. However, can tolerate 2-benzoxazolinone by converting it into non-toxic metabolites through the synergism of two previously identified gene clusters, and . Inspired by the induction of these two clusters upon exposure to 2-benzoxazolinone, RNA sequencing experiments were carried out by challenging individually with 2-benzoxazolinone and three related chemical compounds, 2-oxindole, 2-coumaranone, and chlorzoxazone.

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Whitefly inflicts both direct and indirect losses to cotton crop. Whitefly resistant cotton germplasm is a high priority and considered among the best possible solutions to mitigate this issue. In this study, we evaluated cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) resistant cotton line Mac7 under whitefly stress.

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Root nodule symbiosis (RNS) is the pillar behind sustainable agriculture and plays a pivotal role in the environmental nitrogen cycle. Most of the genetic, molecular, and cell-biological knowledge on RNS comes from model legumes that exhibit a root-hair mode of bacterial infection, in contrast to the Dalbergoid legumes exhibiting crack-entry of rhizobia. As a step toward understanding this important group of legumes, we have combined microscopic analysis and temporal transcriptome to obtain a dynamic view of plant gene expression during (peanut) nodule development.

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Article Synopsis
  • Narrow genetics in most crops poses a risk to food security, making wild crop relatives like GKP 10017 a crucial resource for enhancing genetic diversity and crop resilience.
  • Through genetic analysis, the study reveals how hybridization and seed exchanges since the 1960s have resulted in disease-resistant peanut cultivars across various continents, supporting global food security and economic growth.
  • The research highlights the need for international cooperation in germplasm access and warns that restrictive national laws threaten the benefits that could come from wild species in improving crops.
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Downy mildews caused by obligate biotrophic oomycetes result in severe crop losses worldwide. Among these pathogens, and , two closely related oomycetes, adversely affect cucurbits and hop, respectively. Discordant hypotheses concerning their taxonomic relationships have been proposed based on host-pathogen interactions and specificity evidence and gene sequences of a few individuals, but population genetics evidence supporting these scenarios is missing.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on understanding the genetic factors behind plant vigor, particularly in rice, and highlights the complexity of mapping this trait due to many genes with small effects and their interactions.
  • Researchers performed a long-read genomic assembly of a tropical japonica rice variety, Carolina Gold, to identify significant structural mutations and understand how these changes affect crop performance.
  • The findings indicate a history of tandem duplications and transposable element activity that contributed to genomic size variations, with structural mutations affecting gene exons being selected against in rice breeding programs over the last century.
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Currently, there is still a need to improve the contiguity of the rainbow trout reference genome and to use multiple genetic backgrounds that will represent the genetic diversity of this species. The Arlee doubled haploid line was originated from a domesticated hatchery strain that was originally collected from the northern California coast. The Canu pipeline was used to generate the Arlee line genome de-novo assembly from high coverage PacBio long-reads sequence data.

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Efforts in genome sequencing in the genus have led to the development of quality reference genomes for several important species including , , and However, less progress has been made for As part of the effort of the USDA-ARS Annual Aflatoxin Workshop Fungal Genome Project, the isolate NRRL3357 was sequenced and resulted in a scaffold-level genome released in 2005. Our goal has been biologically driven, focusing on two areas: isolate variation in aflatoxin production and drought stress exacerbating aflatoxin production by Therefore, we developed two reference pseudomolecule genome assemblies derived from chromosome arms for two isolates: AF13, a MAT1-2, highly stress tolerant, and highly aflatoxigenic isolate; and NRRL3357, a MAT1-1, less stress tolerant, and moderate aflatoxin producer in comparison to AF13. Here, we report these two reference-grade assemblies for these isolates through a combination of PacBio long-read sequencing and optical mapping, and coupled them with comparative, functional, and phylogenetic analyses.

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