Accurate and timely diagnosis of strawberry diseases is crucial for minimizing crop loss and reducing the cost of plant treatment. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with multispectral cameras opens up new possibilities for noninvasive plant health monitoring. The objective of this research is to explore the feasibility of detecting diseases in strawberries through multispectral imagery obtained from UAVs combined with deep learning techniques. Leaf spot disease, caused by Ramularia tulasnei Sacc., was chosen as a case study. A DJI Phantom 4 Multispectral quadcopter was used to survey an experimental plot (37 × 22 m) from an altitude of 3 m, achieving a resolution of 2.2 mm per pixel. Preprocessing of the acquired data involved orthomosaic building using Agisoft Metashape Pro and manual region-of-interest (ROI) extraction in ENVI 5.2. A dataset comprising 360 multispectral images, each of size 64 × 64 × 5 (with spectral bands at 450, 560, 650, 730, and 840 nm), was created and separated into three classes: healthy plants, diseased plants, and soil. Using this dataset, a U-Net-based model – supplemented with the attention gate, squeeze-and-excitation, and residual connections modules – was trained. Additionally, to assess the contribution of multispectral channels, another U-Net model was trained on RGB images, as well as a classic Random Forest model based on 40 GLCM texture features. The U-Net model trained on multispectral data achieved an overall classification accuracy of 96.04 %, which is significantly higher than the performance of Random Forest (76.64 %) and the U-Net on RGB images (94.14 %). The resulting disease distribution maps enable site-specific fungicide application. The proposed approach confirmed the effectiveness of deep learning for diagnosing leaf spot disease in strawberries. Future research will focus on expanding the dataset (different cultivars and disease stages), testing more advanced segmentation architectures, and scaling the method to commercial plantations.
Consumption of high-calorie food leads to the development of obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The pathogenesis of NAFLD depends on the composition of the diet. Administration of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) to obese mice improves metabolism and liver condition; however, the dependence of this effect on sex and diet composition has not been studied. Objective: To investigate the influence of sex on liver condition in mice with diet-induced obesity caused by different diets and on the ability of FGF21 to beneficially affect liver function. Obesity was induced in male and female C57BL/6J mice using a high-fat diet (HFD) or a cafeteria diet (DCaf). After obesity development, mice were administered FGF21 (1 mg/kg for 7 days), and the morphofunctional state and gene expression in the liver were assessed. When maintained on an HFD, hepatic steatosis was less severe in females than in males. FGF21 did not affect the lipid droplet area in individuals of either sex but exerted a sex-dependent influence on gene expression: in females, it reduced the expression of glycolysis and lipogenesis genes, preventing lipid accumulation, while in males, it reduced the expression of inflammation, apoptosis, and fibrosis genes, preventing the transition from steatosis to steatohepatitis. When maintained on a DCaf, pronounced steatosis developed in mice of both sexes. FGF21 reduced liver lipid content regardless of sex. However, only in females did FGF21 reduce the expression of the Cidec gene involved in lipid droplet formation and increase the number of apoptotic bodies. In males, the effect of FGF21 on lipid accumulation in the liver appeared to be mediated by its action on other tissues. Thus, in obese mice, sex differences in the severity of hepatic steatosis depended on the diet type and were observed only against the background of HFD. Administration of FGF21 led to a reduction in the total area of lipid droplets in the liver in mice of both sexes only against the background of pronounced steatosis induced by the DCaf. The influence of FGF21 on gene expression in the liver was sex-dependent, both against the background of HFD and DCaf.
Age is the primary risk factor for age-related diseases, the early onset of which manifests as premature aging, whereas delayed development forms the basis for healthy aging and longevity. Adverse genetic variants contribute to premature aging and its diverse manifestations, including increased multimorbidity. Identifying the genetic underpinnings of premature aging and developing preventive approaches are essential to extending the human healthspan, which requires fundamental research using animal models. In this study, we performed whole-genome sequencing (coverage depth >25×) of OXYS rats – a unique model of premature aging characterized by the early onset of geriatric disorders, including cataracts, AMD-like retinopathy, Alzheimer’s disease-like pathology, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy – using the parental Wistar/Icgn rat strain as a control. The screening for singlenucleotide variants (SNVs), short insertions/deletions (indels), and copy number variations (CNVs) and comparative genomic analysis revealed genetic variants unique to OXYS rats that are absent in other rat strains. Specifically, we identified a large deletion in the Fat1 enhancer, deletions in the promoter regions of Abcf1 and Gsta6, and missense variants in Cic, Akap6, Nqo2, Cerkl, Bfsp1, and Cmya5 that lead to amino acid substitutions in highly conserved protein regions. Bioinformatic analysis suggested that these variants may contribute to the key features of premature aging in OXYS rats. Notably, deletions in the Fat1 enhancer and Gsta6 promoter, alongside missense substitutions in Cic, Akap6, and Nqo2, may drive early neurodegeneration and cognitive deficits by disrupting neurogenesis, reducing neuronal survival, and impairing antioxidant defense. The deletion in the Abcf1 promoter and the missense variants in Cerkl may induce retinopathy features by disrupting retinal homeostasis and weakening the protection of photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells against oxidative stress and apoptosis. Furthermore, the missense substitution in Bfsp1 likely contributes to early cataract development by reducing the stability of lens intermediate filaments. Finally, missense variants in Cmya5 and Akap6 may promote sarcopenia and cardiomyopathy via the destabilization of myofibrils in skeletal muscles and cardiomyocytes (Cmya5) and through impaired skeletal muscle regeneration and structural disorganization of cardiomyocytes (Akap6).
Steppe ecosystems are among the most heavily modified habitats due to anthropogenic pressure and rapid land-use changes. Over the course of several decades of the 20th century, the biogeocenoses of the steppe plains and a significant portion of the forest-steppe of the Central Ciscaucasia have almost completely lost their original appearance. Anthropogenic impact resulted in the reduction of suitable habitats, their fragmentation, and so on. It is known that prolonged isolation of a population, caused by natural or anthropogenic habitat fragmentation, can lead to changes in the genetic structure of the population, specifically to a decrease in genetic diversity and a reduction in the total effective population size, which is particularly detrimental to small populations. The relevance of this study is due to the lack of current data on the species composition, genetic structure, genetic diversity, habitat distribution, and abundance of Apodemus wood mice in the steppe zone of the Central Ciscaucasia. Based on an analysis of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b (cyt b) gene fragment variability, the species composition and genetic diversity of sibling species of wood mice of the genus Apodemus have been studied for the first time in the steppe zone of the Central Ciscaucasia. Molecular genetic analysis revealed that the genus Apodemus is represented by three species: A. uralensis, A. witherbyi, and A. flavicollis. A. flavicollis and A. witherbyi are described for the first time in this area. Of the three taxa, A. uralensis exhibits the highest level of genetic diversity. Molecular dating results suggest that of the three species, A. uralensis was the first to colonize the Central Ciscaucasia in two stages: approximately 370–350 thousand years ago and approximately 256 thousand years ago. Subsequently, A. witherbyi entered the area in two stages: approximately 166–154 thousand years ago and 125–115 thousand years ago. A. flavicollis is the youngest inhabitant of the Central Ciscaucasia, with an evolutionary age of approximately 100 thousand years. This study identifies the distribution patterns and landscapebiotopic distribution of representatives of the genus Apodemus in the study areas of the Central Ciscaucasia.
One of the sources of bread wheat resistance to the Puccinia triticina is the Lr51 gene in the T1BS.1BL-1S#F7L-1BL translocation, from Aegilops speltoides Tausch. However, it is little used in the practical breeding of Triticum aestivum L. The main reason is the fear of the negative impact of translocation on important agronomic features. This paper presents the results of pre-breeding studies of lines-analogues of spring bread wheat cultivar Saratovskaya 68 – L6 and L7, carrying T1BS.1BL-1S#F7L-1BL translocation, compared with the recipient – Saratovskaya 68 and the standard – Saratovskaya 76. The presence of the Lr51 gene was confirmed by PCR analysis with markers S30-13L and AGA7-759R. Lines L6 and L7 are resistant to saratov populations of P. triticina. The linesanalogues are cytologically stable. The presence of translocation in L6 and L7 did not significantly influence for plant height and lodging resistance. In lines-analogues, the duration of the germination-earing period is at the level of recipient and standard cultivars. For grain productivity, lines L6 and L7 do not significantly differ from Saratovskaya 68. However, lines L6 and L7 surpassed Saratovskaya 76 in 2024, but there were no differences for 2023–2025 period. Analysis of the structure of the elements productivity of the main ear for average 2023–2025 period showed that at the lines L6 and L7 no differences with the cultivar-recipient for all traits. But comparisons with Saratovskaya 76, show significant differences in favor of lines with translocation in terms of ear density, while L7 also had significant differences for grain weight from the ear and number grains in spikelet.The presence of the T1BS.1BL-1S#F7L-1BL translocation in L6 and L7 did not significantly affect the protein content, as well as the indicators of flour and bread, except for the volume and porosity of bread. Lines L6 and L7 were inferior to Saratovskaya 76 in terms of elasticity, the ratio of elasticity to extensibility (P/L), and the volume of bread, but surpassed the strength of flour (W). In general, in terms of cytological stability and the entire range of breeding-valuable indicators, the effect of T1BS.1BL-1S#F7L1BL translocation in the genotype of the Saratovskaya 68 is assessed as neutral, and lines L6 and L7 have breeding significance for leaf rust resistance.
