Vaccinium species of various ploidy levels. Commercial blueberries have been grown in Europe most recently, so there is not much information available about their adaptation into new regions. In this work we investigated adaptation to the environmental conditions of northern Spain, in terms of flowering and ripening seasons, of a set of 70 blueberry cultivars including several of the most important cultivated American species  in order to identify which types are best-suited in this geographical area of Europe. Most materials showed high chilling requirements for flowering under local conditions, while materials with low-chilling requirements showed problems in the maturation process of the flowers. Most cultivars were early or mid-season while a relative lack of late-season cultivars was observed. GBS was used for the analysis of genetic diversity in this sample of 70 cultivars. A total of 5255 SNP markers were obtained and a cluster analysis revealed three main groups associated with the ploidy level of the species. A Principal Component Analysis revealed a grouping of the V. corymbosum cultivars according to their chilling requirements. A total of 29 SNPs were identified as being highly informative for diversity analysis and potentially useful for cultivar identification and for breeding purposes. The results obtained from this research should contribute to the expansion of this crop, as well as providing data about genetic diversity useful for the preservation of genetic resources or for future breeding programs.Blueberry is a small fruit crop which includes a complex group of different  Vaccinium section Cyanococcus) are perennial shrubs and small fruit crops, production of which has risen quickly around the world [Blueberries , or rabbiteye; V. angustifolium Aiton, known as lowbush blueberries; V. macrocarpum Aiton known as American cranberry. Hybrid cvs obtained from interspecific crosses are also grown, such as the so called half-highs that are hybrids between highbush and lowbush blueberry species [V. darrowii Camp. [Blueberries include more than 400 species of the genus ricaceae . The mairicaceae ,12: V. c species . Blueber species : (i) cvsii Camp. ,14,15.V. corymbosum, V. angustifolium and V. uliginosum are tetraploid, V. virgatum is hexaploid, and V. macrocarpum is diploid. The ploidy is autopolyploidy, with more than two genetically similar (homologous) genomes derived from chromosome doubling of the same genome [V. corymbosum and 12 V. virgatum cvs have been recorded in the European Community Plant Variety Office (https://cpvoextranet.cpvo.europa.eu). However, this industry has grown so rapidly that there is little information concerning the agronomic value of the cvs in different geographical areas, while the low phenotypic polymorphism between cvs with respect to plant, leaf or fruit traits renders cv identification difficult. Differentiation of blueberry cvs requires detailed evaluation in the field over several years.Blueberry species occur in nature at different ploidy levels (2n = 2x = 24), which increases the complexity of this genus ,17. The e genome ,19. All e genome . Interspe genome ,22,23. FV. macrocarpum cv is underway, assembled as scaffolds [Vaccinium spp has been applied to the development of two high-density linkage maps, one in a diploid V. macrocarpum population [V. corymbosum population [Variation supplied by molecular markers can help assessment of genetic diversity and cv identification, or to achieve genetic analysis or marker assisted selection. But the use of molecular markers in blueberry research was limited until the recent advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, due to the complexity of this group ,26,27. Mcaffolds . Genotypcaffolds . GBS hascaffolds , coffee caffolds  and wheacaffolds . To datepulation  and the One of the most important aspects for a successful expansion of the blueberry crop is the selection of cvs, which basically depends on knowledge about their adaptation to local conditions. Commercial blueberries have been grown in Europe since only the 1930s, so there is not much information available about their adaptation into new geographical regions. One of the aims of this work was to investigate the adaptation to the environmental conditions of northern Spain, in terms of flowering and ripening seasons, of a set of 70 commercial blueberry cvs of North American origin in order to identify which types are best suited to conditions in northern Spain or to similar latitudes. For breeders, it is important to know the genetic diversity among cvs and accessions, as a low level of variation is expected in progeny derived from crosses between closely related parents. Other aim of this study was to investigate the genetic diversity included in the set of 70 cvs using the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variation supplied by GBS. This information will be useful for growers, for optimize breeding efforts and for the utilization and preservation of blueberry genetic diversity.V. uliginosum showed a high chilling requirement. The rabbiteye and the half-high hybrid groups showed variation for this trait, and included cvs exhibiting high, moderate or low chilling requirement. Within the V. corymbosum group, most cvs had high chilling requirement, though 16 exhibited low chilling requirement, and only six were classified as mid chilling. There were also differences between cvs with respect to the duration of flowering season . The rabbiteye Centrablue was the only extra-late cv identified. There were differences between cvs with respect to the duration of the harvesting season , from 14For the 70 cvs, sequencing of the GBS library yielded 272 million reads of good quality. The sequencing coverage was estimated to be 16x. After merging, the total number of tags was 1582133, with a minimum reads per tag of three. Of the tags, 25.8% were uniquely aligned and 185661 SNPs were identified. Data were filtered for MAF > 0.01 and no missing data per site, resulting in 42755 SNPs. Using this matrix, the error rate of the analysis was estimate to be 0.8% by comparing the duplicated DNA samples from Pilgrim. The 42755 SNPs were aligned to a total of 4258 scaffolds, ranging in size from 127 to 161211 bp, and including a minimum of one SNP per scaffold and a maximum of 65 SNPs per scaffold (64 bp max). In many cases, SNPs were located in the same tag which could overestimate the importance of these chromosome regions in genetic relationship analyses. Data were filtered in a second step for a minimum distance of 64 bp between adjacent SNPs, giving rise to a final matrix for genetic relationship analyses of 5255 SNPs distributed across 3917 scaffolds. Of these SNPs, 4280 showed a di-nucleotide variant, 240 showed a tri-nucleotide variant and 735 showed insertion-deletion points.V. macrocarpum cultivar. The highest heterozygocity levels were observed in the five rabbiteyes.The heterozygocity proportion per taxa showed and average value of 0.22%, ranging from 0.02% of Pilgrim to 0.28% of PowderBlue . It can V. macrocarpum Pilgrim, the second including the five hexaploid V. virgatum cvs, and the third including the tetraploid species V uliginosum and V. corymbosum. In any group duplicated cvs were observed, although some pairs were very similar, with low values between them in the pairwise distance matrix . V. corymbosum cvs with mid-chilling requirement  were located in a central position, at the intersection between the two groups. Polaris, Chippewa, NorthBlue, Drapper and O´Neal exhibited the highest values in the second dimension (Dim2) and their position within the plot was outside the distribution of the two main groups.A PCA analysis was conducted on the 63 Among the 3614 SNPs, 29 showed the greatest contribution to the Dim1 and Dim2 of the PCA, explaining altogether 66% of the total variation . The PCACommercial blueberry cvs have been grown in Europe most recently, since 1930s, so there is not much information available about their adaptation into new regions, although expansion of this crop depends to a large extent on the availability of cvs adapted to a broad spectrum of environments. One of the most important decisions for berry producers and for expansion of this crop is cv selection, but little information is available on their adaptation to different geographical areas, beyond tree nurseries. Generally, the characteristics of a cv are defined under environmental conditions in which it was obtained that may be quite different from those in the production area. Moreover, the changing global environment with higher global temperature and extreme fluctuations in rainfall patterns, make it important for breeders to know about the adaptation of genotypes to different environments . In thisV. uliginosum) exhibited a high-chilling requirement and was the last cv to start flowering, as would be expected for a cv adapted to the hard climatic conditions of Finland [V. corymbosum cvs. Harvest period has an important effect on crop yield, because market price fluctuates based on fruit availability, so off-peak market harvests are highly valued. Results obtained in this work revealed a lack of V. corymbosum cvs for late or extra-late season harvesting under local conditions.Flowering season, associated with chilling requirements, and harvesting season are important traits for the adaptation of the cvs to different environments. Most of the cvs evaluated had high-chilling requirements so can be classified as northern cvs under local conditions. Cvs with low-chill requirements, classified as southern, can exhibit problems in this area because low morning temperatures, fog or late frosts and low populations of pollinating insects during February-March hinder the maturation process of the flowers in these early-flowering cvs. Some cvs showed a stable response over the years for these traits, such as Bluecrop or Elizabeth which showed low variation (error) between years for the initiation date of flowering or the initiation day of harvesting. The flowering or harvesting dates of other cvs, as Aron or Dixi, seemed to be more dependent on the weather conditions of each individual year, and showed a margin of error greater than 10 d among years. This result is in agreement with previous studies which suggested that a cv can show different chilling requirements based on the environmental conditions ,37. For  Finland . With reV. macrocarpum), hexaploids (V. virgatum), and tetraploids (V uliginosum and V. corymbosum). This aggrupation related to ploidy level was also observed by Bian et al. [For the development of new cvs and the planning of breeding programs, it is important to have detailed information on the available genetic diversity. In this study, the genetic diversity collected in a set of 70 diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid blueberry cvs was studied through GBS. Genotyping variants identified in polyploid species using bi-allelic markers such us SNPs, are less informative than in diploids because variants can be represented not only by a number of different allele combinations but also by different zygosity levels. For these reasons, GBS in polyploids requires greater read depths, at least 15x has been suggested for tetraploids compared to diploids . In thisn et al.  using onV. virgatum in their genetic background [The five hexaploid genotypes (rabbiteyes) appeared to be closely related according to the dendrogram. A narrow genetic base for rabbiteyes was evidenced using RAPD (random amplified polymorphic DNA)  and EST ckground . Also, sV. uliginosum Aron [V. corymbosum cvs. At first, a narrow genetic base of the V. corymbosum commercial cvs was expected, as the basis for the establishment of the modern blueberry industry was four genotypes selected by Dr F Coville in the first blueberry breeding programs [V. corymbosum highbushs and native species with lower chilling requirements [V. angustifolium genome, while Draper is composed primarily of genes of V. corymbosum, but also has contributions from three other species, V. tenellum, V. ashei and V. darrowi [V. corymbosum cvs. This separation is in agreement with their genetic basis, as half-highs are hybrids between V. corymbosum and V. angustifolium [In the tetraploid group, sum Aron  was cleaprograms ,44. Clusprograms  analyzinirements ,24,45. Mirements . This reirements . Cvs O’Ntifolium ,47. Mosttifolium ,47, so aVcFT gene, was isolated from V. corymbosum and located in the Vaccinium_corymbosum_v1_Contig341 (available at the Genome Database for Vaccinium www.vaccinium.org) [V. macrocarpon genome and was located in scaffold_27371 . However, none of the 29 SNPs identified in this work were included in this scaffold  . This cofold see , suggestThe results from this research contribute useful knowledge on the adaptation of of a set of 70 blueberry cvs to local conditions of northern Spain, which can be translated to similar latitudes, and which revealed a shortage of late-harvested blueberry cvs. In addition, this work provided data on the genetic diversity within the set from a massive genotyping, which can be used in the preservation of genetic resources in this crop and in the planning of future plant breeding programs. To know the genetic distance between materials is very useful for breeders, whom should make conscious efforts to broaden the blueberry genetic base for the development of new blueberry cvs.Vaccinium spp is maintained at the SERIDA  station in Asturias, northern Spain . Two plants per cv were spaced planted at 1 x 2.5 m and watered by drip irrigation. Each of the 70 cvs used was represented by plants which are at least three years old at the experimental period 2012–2017. The set includes 57 V. corymbosum cvs, five V. virgatum, one V. macrocarpum, one V. uliginosum, and six half-high hybrids (A field collection of  hybrids . Pedigrest March), mid-chilling requirement (between 1 and 15 March) or high-chilling requirement (later than 15 March). The estimated number of chilling hours per year (threshold 7ºC) for this region of Spain is 834±143 h based on the daily temperature data stored at the National Bank of Climatological Data (AEMET) for the 2002–2012 periods (http://www.aemet.es/documentos/es/serviciosclimaticos/datosclimatologicos/atlas_climatico/Mapas_de_riesgo_2002-2012_WEB.pdf). The fruit season was calculated as: (mean of days to the start of harvesting)–(mean of days to the end of harvesting). Cvs were classified according to the date estimated for the start of harvest, from early season (harvest beginning < 15 June), mid season (between 16 June and 20 July), late season (between 21 July and 25 August) or extra-late season (> 25 August).During the six years of the trials (2012 to 2017), the following phenological traits were collected relative to 1 January of each year: days to flowering (10% of the flowers are open), days to end of flowering, days to harvest beginning (25% of the fruits can be harvested), and days to the end of harvest (more than 90% of the fruits have been harvested). The two plants per cv were scored independently once each week during the flowering and ripening seasons and the average value was calculated per cv and per year. The flowering season was calculated as: (mean of days to flowering)–(mean of days to end of flowering). According to the date estimated for the initiation of flowering, chilling requirements were deduced for each cv and they were classified as low-chilling requirement . A GBS sequencing library was prepared by ligating the digested DNA to unique nucleotide adapters (barcodes) followed by PCR with flow-cell attachment site tagged primers. Sequencing was performed using Illumina HiSeq2000. The sequencing coverage obtained was estimated using the equation proposed by Lander and Waterman [V. macrocarpum genome deposited in the National Center of Biotechnology (BioProject PRJNA245813) [Vaccinium genome available when this work was conducted and it was used for its high degree of macro-synteny and collinearity with V corymbosum [GBS analysis was carried out at the Institute of Genomic Diversity, Cornell University . DNAs were digested individually with the Waterman , C = LN/Waterman  to the dA245813) . This warymbosum .SNP markers were collected using the GbS pipeline implemented in TASSEL 5.2.33 software . Due to A phylogenetic tree was built with the FactoMineR  package S1 FigTwo-dimension plot obtained from principal component analysis for 63 varieties and the most 29 informative SNPs. Red color indicates varieties with low-chilling requirements.(PDF)Click here for additional data file.S1 TableMean values obtained from 2012 to 2017 for days to flowering (10% of the flowers are open), days to end of flowering, days to harvest beginning (25% of the fruits can be harvested), and days to the end of harvesting (more than 90% of the fruits have been harvested). Duration of flowering and harvest season is indicated in days. Only plants with at least three years-old were considered for the characterization.(PDF)Click here for additional data file.S2 TableHeterozygocity proportion per taxa estimated for 5255 SNPs.(PDF)Click here for additional data file.S3 TablePairwise distance matrix obtained in R for 70 blueberry varieties and 5255 SNPs.(PDF)Click here for additional data file.S4 TableV. macrocarpon genome (available at www.vaccinium.org) which includes the tag sequence is indicated. The allele variation identified is indicated between brackets in red color .Tag sequence including the 29 most informative SNPs identified in the PCA analyses. The scaffold of the (PDF)Click here for additional data file.


Dancing is mainly regarded as a form of art, which has been linked to the expression of emotions. Imagery is a well-known technique for enhancing performance. Additionally, specific personality traits are likely to facilitate performance. In the dancer’s performance, regarding the body as a tool is crucial. The following study examines personality and perceived body esteem as predictors of imagery ability in professional dancers. We analyzed two experimental groups, namely ballet dancers and professional dancers of other styles, and a control group. A sample of 249 people took part in the study: 155 women and 94 men aged 18–56 years. Participants filled in The Imagination in Sport Questionnaire and Polish adaptations of the Big Five Inventory—Short and the Body Esteem Scale. Results indicated that while each experimental group differed significantly from the control group in terms of their imagery ability, there were no differences between the two experimental groups. Findings revealed that personality traits, mainly higher openness to experience, and body esteem, mainly related to physical condition, were significant predictors of higher imagery ability in all groups. Dancing is a performing art which merges art and sport as it is related to the expression of self, which is a highly emotional experience , as wellProfessional dancers can improve their ability to perform complex and complicated movements through what is referred to as “marking” or making movements in a very slow way without using full physical strength and energy. In this way, they learn motion not only through its physical but also mental reproduction. Thanks to this, they improve their technique while saving strength and energy by mainly using imagery of motion . ImageryImagery is a complex and broadly defined concept that can be used as the general ability in an individual’s daily life routine which drives one’s behavior; however, it can be specifically used for performance optimization, emphasizing the situational aspects of performance. To address these concepts, Budnik-Przybylska  developeThere has been evidence that people who practice sport regularly present higher imagery ability than novices or nonathletes . Still, Individual characteristics of a performer can influence and predict imagery ,17,18. TTherefore, for the purposes of the current investigation, which put emphasis on personality traits, we have selected one of the most popular five-factor personality models . In thisOpenness to experience is also referred to as intellectual inquisitiveness or independence. It is understood as a bipolar dimension, with lower scores representing mental closure and low curiosity. According to Costa and McCrae ,24, openBesides the traits of personality, another crucial aspect of performance quality in dancing is body functioning. The dancer’s working tool is the body, which is why physical conditioning is very important in this profession. There are a number of psychophysical requirements that must be achieved by a person who develops a professional career in dance. Caring for the physical condition to maintain impeccable condition is a basic requirement. The dancer’s body must also perform some esthetic functions in addition to performing instrumental functions based on top-down-imposed standards. Regardless of the chosen style of dance, people who decide to compete must have physical strength . People Moreover, there are a number of studies on professional dancers, especially classical dancers, which show that many of them have problems with disorders related to the body and nutrition. The increased incidence of eating disorders in specific groups, such as dancers, athletes, and models, is caused by the high cultural and social requirements associated with these professions, but is also influenced by personality factors such as perfectionism, high self-imposed standards, and ambitions .The first aim of the study was to analyze whether dancers, with a separate sample of ballet dancers, differ from the control group in terms of  imagery ability. Differences between the two groups of dancers as well as group differences in personality traits and body esteem were also explored. Additionally, the effects of gender and age factors on imagery ability  were also analyzed. Based on aforementioned previous findings, we hypothesized that participants with experience in dancing will display higher imagery ability (hypothesis 1) as well as openness to experience (hypothesis 2) in comparison with the control group. Additionally, due to the perfection and regularity required in ballet , we hypoFollowing the second study aim, personality traits and body image were tested as predictors of imagery ability  in the three examined groups. We expected that openness to experience would be a predictor of imagery ability in all groups (hypothesis 4). Furthermore, we explored whether other dimensions of personality and body esteem would be predictors of imagery ability .M = 25.07, SD = 5.82), and were divided into three groups:In total, 249 people were examined, including 155 women (62.2%). The participants were aged between 18 and 56 years ; 49% declared having completed secondary education and 49% higher education, 58% were married, and 89% were childless;(1) The control group, consisting of 104 nondancers, with no professional or recreational experience in dancing ; 42% declared having completed secondary education and 54% higher education, 54% were married, and 85% were childless;(2) Eighty-two people who had experience with dance but were not graduates of ballet schools ; 49% declared having completed secondary education and 43% higher education, 43% were married, and 79% were childless.(3) Sixty-three people who had experience in dancing and were graduates of ballet schools  before the commencement of the study.The participants were volunteers who completed a set of questionnaires, for which they were assured anonymity. The selection for the examined groups was carried out with the contribution of a Masters student supervised by the first and second authors, who contacted the people connected with dancing at ballet schools, dance theatres, operas, or theatres where ballet groups existed , as well as the nondancers (control group), and administered the questionnaires. Dancers and ballet dancers were recruited from the lists of graduates of ballet schools, a list of graduates of the Krakow School of Choreography—Dance Theatre Department in Bytom, a list of current ballet dancers of the national opera and dance theatres, a list of current and active dancers on the polskiepolska.pl portal, a list of dancers of the professional folklore band Mazowsze and Silesia, and groups on a social network intended for professional dancers.The participants completed the information form, The Imagination in Sport Questionnaire (the modified version: The Imagination in Action), the BFI-S Questionnaire, and the Body Esteem Scale.Information form. The information form was used as an introduction to a set of tests examining specific aspects of this work. The form contained information on ensuring the anonymity of the person taking part in the study and a request for fairness and accurate completion of all questions. The information form mainly concerned sociodemographic aspects, such as age, gender, and questions related to specific aspects of their professional activity.Imagery. The Imagination in Sport Questionnaire (ISQ) [r = 0.55 to r = 0.74) over a 3-week period and sound internal consistency . A confirmatory factor analysis indicated acceptable model fit indices for the ISQ’s seven-factor structure (NC (normed chi-square) = 2416.63, df (degree of freedom) = 1203, GFI (Goodness of fit index) = 0.944, AGFI (Adjusted Goodness of Fit index) = 0.944, RMSEA (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) = 0.056).re (ISQ)  is a mulFor the purposes of this study, some items were changed . The changes concerned details in adjusting items to specific aspects of performance instead of competitions. For example, item 32 in the original test—“Positively tuning for a successful start”— was changed to “Positively tuning for a successful performance”). In the current experiment, the ISQ showed better reliability  for each subscale: feelings (0.84), modalities (0.69); ease control (0.89), perspective (0.84), affirmation (0.88), visual (0.75), and general (0.84).In the following are some examples of items for each subscale: for feelings: “How clearly was the feeling of the movements executed by you?”; for modalities: “How clearly did you hear the sounds occurring in this situation?”; for ease control: “How easy is it to recall the episode from the end to the beginning?”; for perspective: “Can you at any time stop the movie and watch the ‘freeze frame’ in detail?”; for affirmation: “You feel confident during the competitions”; for visual: “Were colors that occurred in this situation clear?”; for general: “Do you imagine the events waiting for you?”.Personality. In order to study personality, the Polish version [I perceived myself as someone who: is talkative (extraversion); is original and ingenious (openness to experience); forgives easily (agreeableness); worries a lot (neuroticism); is lazy (conscientiousness). version  of the B version . It is a version ,45. The  version . ExampleThe Polish adaptation  of the Bphysical stamina, reflexes ; appetite, waist (weight control); lips, breasts . Example of items for men: muscular strength, biceps (body strength); nose, lips ; physical stamina, energy level .Example of items for women: Average and standard deviations of the variables tested were calculated. For age effect, the Spearman correlation was used, and for gender effect, UNIANOVA was applied. For direct group comparisons, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used. Post-hoc Tukey test was applied to compare the three different groups. In order to determine the predictors of the imagery ability, linear regression analyses were used. The significance level was set at α = 0.05. The IBM SPSS Statistics version 25  was used to perform the calculations.p = n.s.; for situational imagery: rho = 0.060, p = n.s.). For general imagery, the main effect of gender was insignificant  = 0.186; p = 0.667; η2 = 0.001), but the main effect of the group was significant  = 3.228; p = 0.041; η2 = 0.026), and no interaction between those two factors occurred  = 0.099; p = 0.906; η2 = 0.01). For situational imagery, the main effect of gender was insignificant  = 2.707; p = 0.101; η2 = 0.011), but the main effect of the group was significant  = 19.569; p < 0.001; η2 = 0.139), and no interaction between those two factors occurred  = 1.960; p = 0.143; η2 = 0.016).Before testing the hypothesis, we examined the age and gender effects on imagery ability . Spearman’s correlation analysis revealed no association between age and general and situation imagery , personality and body esteem levels showed a more varied trend. Specifically, both groups of dancers achieved higher scores in openness to experience, but for ballet dancers, also in conscientiousness. Both groups of dancers also achieved higher scores in all imagery scales. They perceived their attractiveness and physical condition to be higher. Ballet dancers were also more attentive to their weight (women) or upper body strength (men).According to the second study aim, we sought predictors of imagery ability in the three examined groups. The obtained results are presented below.To test whether openness to experience (hypothesis 4) and other personality dimensions would be predictors of imagery ability, we conducted linear regression analysis.R2 = 0.41, R = 0.64, Corrected R = 0.38, F = 13.482, p < 0.001) of the control group, 49% of dancers  = 14.36, p < 0.001), and 67% of ballet dancers  = 23.13, p < 0.001).Regression analysis revealed that personality explained general imagery ability in 41% , extraversion in the control group , and conscientiousness in the group of dancers ;Specifically, the contribution of each subscale of personality to the explanation of general imagery as the dependent variable revealed the following predictors: openness to experiences for all groups  = 8.72, p < 0.001) in the control group, 23% in the group of dancers  = 4.56, p < 0.001), and 59% in the group of ballet dancers  = 16.37, p < 0.001).Regarding the variance in situational imagery ability of the different groups, personality explained 31% of the total variance  for the control group,  for dancers, and  for ballet dancers. Additionally, in the group of ballet dancers, the most significant predictor was conscientiousness .The two regression analyses with situational imagery as the dependent variable revealed the following predictors: (1) personality: openness to experience was the most significant predictor in all groups:  = 5.27, p < 0.01) and 23% in ballet dancers  = 5.89, p < 0.001).Next, we analyzed if body esteem is the predictor of imagery ability. General imagery was not significant in the control group; however, it explained 17% of the total variance in the group of dancers , dancers , ballet dancers ); attractiveness only in dancers  and weight control .In the following, we report the contribution of each subscale of body esteem to general imagery: physical condition for all groups  = 6.30, p < 0.01) of the control group, 12% of the group of dancers  = 3.42, p < 0.05), and 18% of ballet dancers  = 4.41, p < 0.01).Furthermore, body esteem affects situational imagery ability for 16% , dancers , and ballet dancers . Additionally, attractiveness  and weight control  were significant predictors in the control group.With regards to body esteem, the physical condition was the significant predictor in all groups: control . Our findings suggest that imagery ability was higher in dancers, including ballet dancers, compared to the control group. Only in general imagery ability did the group of ballet dancers not differ from the control group. We hypothesized that dancers would report higher general imagery ability (hypothesis 1), and this assumption was confirmed, since ballet dancers had an average score of 4.21, dancers had an average score of 4.28, and the control group showed lower values (4.02). The subscales of situational imagery, which is associated with imagining the performance, confirmed this trend (hypothesis 1). This specific type of imagery might be the consequence of previous experiences and training in both studied groups. This is in line with previous studies on athletes, including elite athletes, who reported higher imagery ability ,48,49,50Our findings confirmed that dance and imagery are closely intertwined. During learning different sequences of movements, people start to use their kinesthetic imagery to become more accustomed to the feeling of the movements . Taking In the first study aim, we also compared dancers and ballet dancer with nondancers regarding personality traits and body esteem. Both groups of dancers displayed higher levels of openness to experience in comparison with nondancers. The second hypothesis related to the openness to experience of the dancers was thus confirmed. Higher openness to experience is also in line with results of previous research concerning high-risk sports  and dancAdditionally, ballet dancers were more conscientious than nondancers. Dancing is a very demanding discipline which is connected with regular practice and striving for perfection ,57. TherAdditional analyses regarding body esteem showed that dancers (both groups) perceived their attractiveness and physical condition to be higher, but at the same time, they were more concerned about their weight. Ballet dancers obtained higher scores in the weight control subscale (women) or upper body strength (men) subscale than the control group. However, higher attention to weight is characteristic of all sports where weight is important ,60,61. OAs for the second study aim, we confirmed that personality and body esteem were significant predictors of imagery ability. As mentioned in the introduction, this is the understudied issue, especially regarding the influence of personality factors and, referring to the uniqueness of dancing, body esteem. Our results indicated that some personality traits, but not body esteem, were predictors of general imagery in all samples. Specifically, personality as a predictor of general imagery ability as well as of situational ability was significant in all analyzed groups, but was the most significant in ballet dancers . Thus, that high amount of variance in imagery  might have not been explained in the previous studies and should not be underestimated. The most important predictor of situational as well as general imagery ability was openness to experience. People who assimilate new information in different ways and are open to new ideas present higher imagery ability. Moreover, using imagination is most effective for people who have an innate predisposition . TherefoThe second significant personality trait predicting imagery ability was consciousness. However, for general imagery ability, it was a significant predictor in the groups of dancers, but when situational components were taken into account, consciousness was a significant predictor only in ballet dancers. It may be explained, as mentioned before, by the specific situation of imagery script. For ballet dancers, performance is very strict and movements should be more perfect than for other groups of dancers, whereas in general, the usage of imagery seems to be more useful for the group of dancers.As far as body esteem is concerned, it was the predictor of situational imagery in all samples. Specifically, taking care of physical condition was the predictor of imagery, both general and situational, in all samples. Drawing on Hardy and Callow , we mighTherefore, body esteem might affect imagery, but this relation only occurs in the specific context when competitive situations are imagined. In this respect, personality traits, with particular emphasis on openness to experience, should be defined as universal predictors of imagery, both general and situational, regardless of personal experience in competing.Concluding, we would like to highlight limitations of our study. There were discrepancies in the number of participants in the three groups. Indeed, in the future, the number of participants in specific age groups should be balanced.In future research, larger samples and with more male participants should be included. More measures of imagery ability as well as personality measures of less general (than those from the five-factor model) traits should be used to better explain the specificity of dancers’ functioning. Moreover, other dispositional measures such as temperament, other concepts of personality, or mental toughness could be investigated as dispositional factors predicting imagery ability, in particular investigating the link between imagery and mental toughness . FurtherThe present paper has a lot of relevant practical implications, not only for dance as a sport, but also for everyday life. Educators and coaches should be aware of predictors of imagery ability, which in turn could affect final dancers’ performance and mental training programs. Individual factors such as personality traits and body esteem should be taken into account when imagery ability is trained and developed. Our results expand the knowledge about individual differences among dancers and nondancers, especially regarding imagery ability, which might be implemented in interventions and training programs. Further, as we focused on personal factors , our results might be viable cross-culturally.


Salmo trutta L.) is an ideal model species for studying anthropogenic influences on genetic integrity, as it has experienced significant genetic alterations throughout its natural distribution range due to habitat fragmentation, overexploitation, translocations, and stocking. The Pasvik River is a subarctic riverine system shared between Norway, Russia, and Finland, subdivided by seven hydroelectric power dams that destroyed about 70% of natural spawning and nursing areas. Stocking is applied in certain river parts to support the natural brown trout population. Adjacent river segments with different management strategies (stocked vs. not stocked) facilitated the simultaneous assessment of genetic impacts of dams and stocking based on analyses of 16 short tandem repeat loci. Dams were expected to increase genetic differentiation between and reduce genetic diversity within river sections. Contrastingly, stocking was predicted to promote genetic homogenization and diversity, but also potentially lead to loss of private alleles and to genetic erosion. Our results showed comparatively low heterozygosity and clear genetic differentiation between adjacent sections in nonstocked river parts, indicating that dams prevent migration and contribute to genetic isolation and loss of genetic diversity. Furthermore, genetic differentiation was low and heterozygosity relatively high across stocked sections. However, in stocked river sections, we found signatures of recent bottlenecks and reductions in private alleles, indicating that only a subset of individuals contributes to reproduction, potentially leading to divergence away from the natural genetic state. Taken together, these results indicate that stocking counteracts the negative fragmentation effects of dams, but also that stocking practices should be planned carefully in order to ensure long‐term preservation of natural genetic diversity and integrity in brown trout and other species in regulated river systems.Habitat discontinuity, anthropogenic disturbance, and overharvesting have led to population fragmentation and decline worldwide. Preservation of remaining natural genetic diversity is crucial to avoid continued genetic erosion. Brown trout ( The upper part of the river is located in Russia  consisted of adipose fin clips collected opportunistically by anglers or collected during field trips and stored in 96% ethanol until laboratory analysis.Sample collection aimed to systematically retrieve samples from all sections; however, from a few sections only very few samples could be obtained , and later the novel multiplexes were validated on a larger sample set (N = 75) consisting of fish collected in the field  loci were tested in the development of multiplex PCR for genotyping of brown trout. When needed, original primers were redesigned by adding PIG‐tails  and genotyped at 16 STR loci Table . PCR amp2.4p‐values for deficiency of heterozygotes and likelihood ratio statistics, respectively. Observed and expected heterozygosity and inbreeding coefficient for the seven river sections were calculated with GenAlEx 6.51b2  were carried out with the software GENEPOP 4.7 Rousset, . For bot2.5GST , the program BOTTLENECK 1.2.02 . Private allelic richness was lowest in the Norwegian–Russian sections G, H, and I, with section F having the highest private allelic richness. In addition, section H (Melkefoss) showed a negative inbreeding coefficient, possibly indicating outbreeding.The result of the microsatellite optimization was five novel multiplexes consisting of 16 STR markers Table . None of3.2GST and Jost's D, Table Estimates of population‐genetic differentiation  indicated that location information was fairly informative for assisting in genetic clustering. At K = 3, the three groups generally corresponded to the nonstocked river sections A–C in the Russian part and to the stocked sections G–J in the Norwegian–Russian part, while sections in‐between  partially showed assignment to a third genetic cluster . Testing for hierarchical genetic structure within the two main clusters revealed that two sections (B and C) in the nonstocked Russian part of the river corresponded to two subtle genetic clusters. This was consistent with the population‐genetic differentiation results, indicating significant genetic structuring of adjacent river sections caused by a single dam  have essentially been homogenized by the annual release of several thousand hatchery‐bred individuals. Stocking has been shown to contribute to substantial genetic differentiation and drift effects in salmonids, leading to rapid divergence of wild and captivity‐bred fish  and the stocked Norwegian–Russian (G–J) sections of the river, while the third cluster is most common in the center of the river system (sections C–F). At t Figure a,b, one Despite the existence of four hydroelectric dams, genetic differentiation was generally low among sections of the Norwegian–Russian part of the Pasvik River. Within this stocked part, differentiation was statistically significant only for two pairwise comparisons involving section G. This particular section is short and therefore possibly has a lower population size than other river sections. It also shows the lowest private allelic richness, suggesting that the genetic differentiation in this case is caused by drift. Finally, although stocking in section G was stopped more than a decade ago, it is possible that past extensive stocking introduced alleles that led to the significant genetic differentiation. The general genetic uniformity of the brown trout population of the Norwegian–Russian river part indicates that stocking has homogenized the gene pools of the separate river sections. Contrastingly, in the upstream Russian part of the river, sections B and C showed significant genetic differentiation and were identified as distinct genetic clusters in the STRUCTURE analysis. Hence, in these nonstocked parts of the river, dams contributed to genetic differentiation. This finding is in line with previous studies in brown trout and other salmonids showing that artificial barriers can quickly lead to isolation and genetic differentiation .The microsatellite data set has been deposited in the Dryad Digital Repository (DOI:


In modern dairy breeding programmes, high contributions from foreign sires are nearly always present. Genotyping, and therefore genomic selection (GS), concern only a subpopulation of the breeding programme’s wider dairy population. These features of a breeding programme contribute in different ways to the rate of genetic gain for the wider industry.A deterministic recursive gene flow model across subpopulations of animals in a dairy industry was created to predict the commercial performance of replacement heifers and future artificial insemination bulls. Various breeding strategies were assessed by varying the reliability of breeding values, the genetic contributions from subpopulations, and the genetic trend and merit of the foreign subpopulation.G) after 20 years of selection can be achieved when genetic contributions shift towards higher merit alternatives compared to keeping them fixed. A foreign annual genetic trend of 0.08 SD of the breeding goal, while the domestic genetic trend is 0.10 SD, results in the overall net present value of genetic gain increasing by 1.2, 2.3, and 3.4% after 20 years as the reliability of GS in the domestic population increased from 0.3 to 0.45, 0.60 and 0.75. With a foreign genetic trend of 0.10 SD, these increases are more modest; 0.9, 1.7, and 2.4%. Increasing the foreign genetic trend so that it is higher than the domestic trend erodes the benefits of increasing the reliability of domestic GS further.A higher response in the true breeding goal measured in standard deviations (SD) of true merit (Having a foreign source of genetic material with a high rate of genetic progress contributes substantially to the benefits of domestic genetic progress while at the same time reducing the expected returns from investments to improve the accuracy of genomic prediction in the home country. Subpopulations of dairy cattle exist within every country’s dairy industry. Herd owners within these subpopulations tend to place emphasis on different aspects of their farming enterprises and therefore make different breeding decisions . In addiGenetic improvement in production traits of dairy cattle will contribute obvious economic benefits and benefits to the environment –5. In 20In a domestic dairy cattle industry, it is common that certain subpopulations of herds drive most of the genetic gain because, compared to other subpopulations, they place more emphasis on elite bulls that are identified through GS. For these subpopulations, more animals are genotyped, and more phenotypic data are collected, thus they can contain superior dams compared to the national average. These features often result in strong relationships with artificial insemination (AI) companies, which place a significant emphasis on breeding a new generation of high merit sires using calves generated within these herds. In contrast, the majority of herds within a dairy industry will be more commercially driven. Although genetic gain will affect the commercial performance of the herd, breeding decisions may be based more on management and/or short-term considerations of costs. For example, a commercially-driven farmer may not see the advantage in genotyping calves because of genotyping costs. They may make their selection decisions for replacement heifers on the basis of management factors such as date of birth, bodyweight at selection, etc., or they may only use daughter proven (DP) sires to breed replacements because of their higher reliabilities. Therefore, overall, these commercially-driven farmers make breeding decisions with less emphasis on genetic merit. Small-sized nucleus dairy cattle breeding programmes have been shown to be effective in developing countries where larger, national breeding programmes are more difficult to implement . To dateGene flow models are an effective methodology to determine the outcomes of breeding strategies. Santos et al.  investigIn this work, we investigated a number of different options for selection within, and genetic contributions from, subpopulations within a generalised dairy industry to determine their impacts on the overall rate of industry genetic progress.AC), passive (PV) corresponding to the domestic cow population, and foreign (FOR) where only sires are relevant. Initially, the model was parameterised with mean values of AC and FOR subpopulations to the PV subpopulation via sires sourced from each one were built into the predictive model. Starting mean values and selection differentials for each sire type were set in each subpopulation such that a rate of genetic gain of 0.10 FOR subpopulation at the start of any change in breeding policy.A deterministic recursive model with multiple flows of predicted genetic merit across subpopulations of animals was created using Microsoft Excel, to predict the genetic merit of both breeding bulls and commercial cows in a country’s dairy industry. The unit used for genetic trend, and for levels of genetic merit and of selection differentials was standard deviations of the true breeding goal  due to a time-lag difference in genetic trend and to the selection differential achieved in cows, as follows:AC and PV subpopulations, AC subpopulation (see below) and AC subpopulation that are of age FOR sires was made equal to domestic DP sires.The starting mean value for AC subpopulation in year 0 was calculated as:The genetic merit of AI calves born in the AC calves born in year 0 are superior over the genetic merit of cows born in the same year according to the current genetic trend occurring in the population. The selection differential from the cows, AC subpopulation and not just those selected to become replacement heifers. The genetic merit of selected AI calves born in the AC subpopulation in year 0 was calculated as:AC calves that were sired by an AI sire originating from three different sire sources denoted AC genomically selected (GS), AC daughter proven (DP), and FOR. In this way, the PV AI and stockbull (SB) sired calves was calculated using the same algorithm as for future predicted merit values and is explained below.The starting genetic merit of PV cows and SB sires in year 0 were set through trial and error such that a rate of genetic gain of 0.10 Mean genetic values for years prior to implementation of new model scenarios at year entclass1pt{minimaThe mean reliabilities for dams at different ages in the subpopulations are in Table AC GS, AC DP and FOR sires in the base scenario, respectively.In order to account for the lag between selection decisions and the flow of genetic contributions on the benefits from using bulls of each type, the proportion of calves by sires at different ages in each subpopulation was modelled. Each scenario was investigated by using fixed sire contributions (FSC) and responsive sire contributions (RSC). Fixed sire contributions remained unchanged throughout the timeframe of the model and were equal to 0.33, 0.34, and 0.33 for FOR sires were calculated as:Responsive sire contributions for AC GS and DP sires were assumed and calculated as:Initially, identical sire contributions for When RSC is used, the selection differentials for GS and DP sires are updated as the contributions of sires change, which is represented by the proportion of calves selected to become sires:FOR calves and all sire types in the FSC scenarios.The reason for this is that, as the contributions from a sire type drops, the proportion of calves selected to become sires also drops, which leads to an increase in selection intensity. Selection proportions remain the same throughout the timeframe of the model for AC and PV subpopulations are estimated recursively from the genetic merit Future genetic trends in Cumulative benefit  and The genetic merit of sires from the lves Eq.  is calcuThe genetic merit of sires that are sourced from foreign populations denoted Selection differentials for a class of selection candidates, Accuracies were obtained by taking the square root of reliabilities modelled for the respective categories of selection candidates (listed in Table FOR sire genetic merit. Sire contribution methods (RSC and FSC) were compared to each other by adjusting two key variables. First, the impact of improvement in GS reliability was evaluated using reliability values for total economic merit of 0.3, 0.45, 0.6, and 0.75. Second, the impact of foreign genetic trend was evaluated using annual trend values of 0.08, 0.1, 0.12, and 0.14. For these scenarios, it was assumed that all domestic sire contributions were split evenly between GS and DP sires, since factors such as confidence, risk, and past habits drive farmer preferences between GS and DP sires, rather than the levels of genetic merit within the two groups of sires.We investigated several scenarios that reflected various combinations of changes in breeding value reliability, sire usage proportions or improvements in foreign genetic trend and/or starting The impacts of increasing GS relative to DP sire contributions were evaluated for a subset of scenarios in which the foreign genetic trend was set to be equal to the domestic trend of 0.10. The range of GS reliability values  were tested at three proportional splits of domestic GS and DP sire contributions. The modelled breakdown between GS and DP sires considered were: 0.5 each; 0.5 increasing to 0.9 by 0.08 per year for GS at the expense of DP; and 0.8 GS sires and 0.2 DP sires from year 1.FOR subpopulation being either higher than that of domestic sires at 0.5 or lower than that of domestic sires, but equal to that of AC dams at 0.A further set of scenarios was created to consider a closed dairy industry that was subsequently opened to imported foreign semen and/or sires, for the first time. For these scenarios, foreign genetic trends of 0.08, 0.1, and 0.12 were tested with the starting genetic merit of the PV) from years 12 to 25 of the new selection strategy for scenarios with a high (0.14) or low (0.08) foreign genetic trend, responsive or fixed sire contributions, and a high (0.75) or low (0.30) genomic selection reliability are presented in Fig. The mean genetic merit of commercial cows  or higher (0.12), while starting foreign sire merit was high. When starting foreign sire merit and the foreign genetic trend are both low, cumulative NPV is reduced compared to a base scenario that has no FOR sires. However, with a low starting FOR sire merit, cumulative NPV increases when the modelled foreign genetic trend is the same as, or higher, than the domestic trend. This is somewhat surprising, especially in the scenario in which the foreign genetic trend is equal to that of the domestic sires but the foreign sire starting merit is low. However, here the low starting merit of foreign sires is still higher than that of domestic DP sires and therefore gains can be achieved by using these sires.The results of the scenario for an industry that imports foreign genetics for the first time are in Table In 2006, Schaeffer showed that genomic selection can double the rate of genetic gain at significantly reduced costs compared to a traditional progeny testing strategy . Since tAC and PV subpopulations here). In the scenarios that we investigated, the levels of genetic merit in the PV subpopulation typically lag the AC subpopulation by 7 years (results not shown). These modelling issues could also be addressed by using stochastic simulation [The standard approach of modelling genetic gain in cattle populations, which was introduced by Rendel and Robertson , is steamulation , 16, butPV cow population, closely mimics real world scenarios, i.e. in nearly all modern dairy breeding programmes, where very high contributions from foreign sires are present. Likewise, in our model, responsive sire contributions attempt to mimic real world scenarios. Sire contributions are a product of farmer breeding decisions and therefore are difficult to control at an industry level. Thus, our RSC approach is an attempt to quantify what might occur in practice as the domestic population shifts in merit relative to the foreign population. Another approach would have been to model truncation selection across the domestic and foreign sires available according to simulated overlapping distributions with means based on respective levels of genetic merit. This could be considered in a future study.The model presented here includes foreign sire contributions by taking the foreign genetic trend into account. Although other informative deterministic models have been created to look at GS strategies for dairy cattle populations , to our The value of increasing GS reliability when considered as cumulative NPV is surprisingly modest (0.9 to 3.4% depending on the parameters) when the magnitude of the increase (0.3–0.75) in reliability is considered. While the lags modelled are partly driving this surprisingly low return, the impact of foreign semen was found to be a major driver. The financial commitment to bring about an increase in GS reliability is substantial. Return on investment may not be realised if foreign genetic trend is high relative to the domestic trend and foreign semen is readily available. Having a foreign source of genetic material with a high rate of genetic progress contributes substantially to the domestic rate of genetic progress.Our results show that investments to improve GS reliability will yield greater returns when the foreign genetic trend is lower than the domestic trend, which is most likely due to GxE interactions. GxE interactions can occur at the trait level with the best examples being studies that compared North American and New Zealand genetics under different feeding systems in New Zealand , 19 and Accounting for subpopulation substructure within a dairy industry is known to be important when evaluating opportunities to accelerate genetic progress. There is opportunity to increase economic benefits to dairy farmers by increasing domestic GS reliability when foreign genetic trends are lower than domestic genetic trends, for example, when large between-country G × E interactions exist. Conversely, if a foreign source of genetic material with a high rate of genetic progress is available, it will contribute substantially to the benefits of domestic genetic progress and the benefits of investments to improve the accuracy of GS locally will be substantially reduced.


Mycobacterium agri and Gordonia cholesterolivorans were identified as most potent applying a new “reverse discovery” approach. This relies on the possibility that efficient strains that are already isolated and deposited can be identified through enrichment cultures. These strains formed massive biofilms on the octocrylene droplets. GC-MS analysis after cultivation for 10 days with M. agri revealed a decrease in octocrylene concentration of 19.1%. LC-MS/MS analysis was utilized in the detection and quantification of transformation products of octocrylene. M. agri thus represents an ideal candidate for bioremediation studies with octocrylene and related compounds.Octocrylene is a widely used synthetic UV absorber of sunscreens and found in several environments. Ecological consequences of the accumulation of UV filters are widely discussed. This is the first report revealing the microbial potential to transform octocrylene. A microbial community comprising four bacterial species was enriched from a landfill site using octocrylene as carbon source. From these microorganisms  Mycobacterium agri and Gordonia cholesterolivorans) can form biofilms on its surface. They also report that cultivation for 10 days with Mycobacterium agri decreases octocrylene concentration by 19%.Suleiman et al. use “reverse discovery” approach to identify four bacterial species that were enriched on the UV filter octocrylene, two of which ( Recently, several studies focused on the extensive use and potential ecological consequences of octocrylene, since the compound was detected in various water and sediment samples in wastewater2 oceans3, lakes, and rivers5. Moreover, octocrylene was found in the liver tissue of Franciscana dolphins and accumulation of octocrylene in zebrafish was reported upon exposure7. Further, octocrylene was suggested to potentially affect transcription of genes in the zebrafish’s brain and liver9. So far, little is known about potential degradation and biotransformation of octocrylene by microorganisms. Hence, this is the first study, to our knowledge, which reports on microbial growth in the presence of octocrylene and its degradation and transformation to other compounds.Octocrylene  is a synthetic organic filter widely used as UV-absorber (in the UVB region) in sunscreens and personal care products10. The microbial community of the OC-colonizing enrichment culture consisted of four genera, and the distinct bands of the DGGE were obtained and assigned to the bacterial genera Gordonia (100% identity), Mycobacterium (100% identity), and Hydrogenophaga (99% identity) after excision of the respective bands and sequencing . Samples were subsequently used for enrichment cultures (inoculation 1% (v/v)) with 0.35% (v/v) octocrylene as carbon source. After 14 days, grown cultures were transferred into fresh medium with two subsequent streakings. Repeatedly, biomass formation on the octocrylene droplet surface could be observed and the medium became turbid compared to the controls. In order to investigate the community composition of the culture, DGGE analysis was performedMycobacterium and Gordonia species have been reported to be associated with degradation of polluting polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), such as pyrene or oil, and were proposed for application in environmental bioremediation14. Although different techniques were performed, isolation of pure strains from the enrichment culture was not possible and resulted in mixed cultures. Therefore, the “reverse discovery” approach was integrated. This approach is based on taking use of already isolated and deposited pure strains, showing high identities to the identified 16S rRNA genes amplified from the organisms of the enrichment culture. Highly identical strains can be purchased from culture collections, in order to identify the most efficient strains capable of degrading octocrylene. Likewise, several deposited strains at the German Culture Collection (DSMZ) belonging to the genera Mycobacterium and Gordonia, whose 16S rRNA gene showed high identities to the DGGE-identified ones, were tested for their ability to grow in modified DSM media 645 and 65 at 37 °C and 30 °C in the presence of 0.35% (v/v) octocrylene. Interestingly, M. agri (DSM 44515) and Gordonia cholesterolivorans (DSM 45229) were able to colonize the octocrylene droplet rapidly forming massive biofilms on its surface . Interestingly, in absence of external carbon sources, no biofilms were formed at all, indicating the necessity of small amounts of accessible energy sources to colonize the octocrylene droplet.M. agri and G. cholesterolivorans, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analyses were performed with the pure cultures grown with 0.35% octocrylene (v/v). Control experiments were conducted with M. agri and G. cholesterolivorans grown in the absence and presence of octocrylene. In addition, the medium containing octocrylene was incubated under the same conditions without inoculation. After 10 days of cultivation, triplicates of cultures and controls were used for GC-MS and LC-MS/MS analyses. Samples were prepared by extraction of the culture using hexane/dichloromethane (1 + 2), for LC-MS/MS measurements the GC extract was evaporated to dryness and refilled with acetonitrile, and the amount of octocrylene was determined using the GC-MS-SIM mode, with m/z 249 as the quantifying ion. The qualitative recording of products (product scan) was done by GC-MS-TIC mode. Separation was performed on an Agilent DB5MS ultra inert capillary column.Hence, in order to study transformation of octocrylene by M. agri, the concentration of octocrylene measured by GC-MS-SIM mode decreased from 3536 ± 239 mg/L (controls) to a final concentration of 2861 ± 193 mg/L at day 10, representing a decrease of 19.1% octocrylene butyl-2-cyano-3,3-diphenylacrylate (DOCCA), 2-Cyano-3,3-diphenylacrylic-acid (CPAA), and 2-Ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl-2-cyano-3,3-diphenylacrylate (5OH-OC) were synthesized and provided by Bury et al.9. Consequently, we were able to compare GC-MS spectra obtained in this work with the metabolite’s GC-MS spectra and LC-MS/MS which was subsequently used to quantify the metabolites in our experimental design. While the metabolites DOCCA, CPAA, and 5OH-OC were identified in the MS spectra and quantified via LC-MS/MS, one occurring peak in GC-MS run  were further metabolized by the microorganism and utilized for growth. Non-biotic factors responsible for the reduction of octocrylene can be excluded, since controls without M. agri did not show any decrease in octocrylene concentration.LC-MS/MS revealed the occurrence of DOCCA with 165 ± 60 µg/L, of CPAA with 11.8 ± 2.6 µg/L and of 5OH-OC with 246.0 ± 34 µg/L. This indicates that G. cholesterolivorans revealed no change of octocrylene concentration during incubation, although biofilm was observed. This indicates that in this case biofilm formation does not go automatically along with transformation or degradation of octocrylene.Interestingly, the analysis of growth experiments with 3 and solutions for this pollution have to be investigated. Man-made biofilms were proposed previously for bioremediation of sewage effluent contaminated with hydrocarbons16. M. agri represents a potential candidate for bioremediation, since it belongs to the rapidly growing Mycobacteria and can be found ubiquitously in soil and water systems18. Therefore, a novel eco-friendly application using M. agri or specific microbial consortia could be investigated and applied for degradation of chemical UV filter like octocrylene. This work highlights the potential of heterotrophic microorganisms to transform octocrylene in lab experiments. Due to the omnipresence of M. agri in the environment, it is conceivable that M. agri will also be able to transform the UV filter octocrylene in nature. Hence, further analysis should be conducted regarding biotransformation of octocrylene by microorganisms in natural sediments and waters. Future studies will reveal the metabolic pathway for octocrylene degradation and the key enzymes involved in this process.Since UV filters such as octocrylene accumulate in nature, the identification of further octocrylene degrading microorganisms is desirable. It has been reported that marine environments are endangered by chemicals and UV-filters of sunscreen4, 0.1 g/L MgCl2, 0.5 g/L NH4SO4, 0.5 g NH4NO3, 0.1 g/L CaCl2, 40 mM phosphate buffer, trace element and vitamin solution 141, and 0.005% (w/v) yeast extract). Incubation bottles were inoculated with 1% (w/v) of the soil sample and supplemented with 0.35% (v/v) octocrylene as carbon source. After 14 days of incubation, grown cultures were transferred into fresh medium with two subsequent streakings.Sediment and water samples were taken from an on-site sewage plant and soakage at a landfill site in Singhofen (Germany). The samples were subsequently used for enrichment cultures (volume 20 mL) using oxic medium .10 DGGE was performed by employing a DcodeTM System . A 6% polyacrylamide gel with a denaturing gradient of 35–70% formamide was used and electrophoresis ran for 17 h, at 55 °C and 100 V. The gel was stained in Roti-Gel Stain  and afterwards analyzed with a UV transilluminator. In addition, selected bands were cut out and DNA was extracted from the gel by incubation in 10 µL sterile water over night at 4 °C, amplified by PCR and amplificated were sequenced (Eurofins Genomics).DGGE analysis was performed as described previously.Mycobacterium sp. and Gordonia sp. showing within their 16S rRNA genes high similarities compared to the sequenced and identified fragments of the DGGE analysis were chosen and ordered from the DSMZ. Mycobacterium agri (DSM 44515), M. aichiense (DSM 44147) and M. aromaticivorans (DSM 45407) were incubated in DSMZ medium 645 2SO4, 1.5 g KH2PO4, 1.5 g Na2HPO4, 0.4 g Na-citrate, 0.025 g MgSO4, 0.5 mg CaCl2, 1 mg ZnSO4, 1 mg CuSO4, 0.5 g L-glutamic acid, 0.04 g ferric ammonium citrate, 1 mg pyridoxine, 0.5 mg biotin, 0.05 g oleic acid, 0.85 NaCl, 5 g BSA, 2 g glucose) supplemented with 0.35% octocrylene at a temperature of 37 °C. Gordonia caeni (DSM 45852), G. cholesterolivorans (DSM 45229), and G. defluvii (DSM 44981) were incubated in DSMZ medium 65  supplemented with 0.35% octocrylene at a temperature of 30 °C.Several M. agri and G. cholesterolivorans was modificated in order to enhance the biofilm formation. Therefore, the carbon sources of the medium 645 of M. agri were highly decreased to 0.05% glucose and 0.05% glycerol and BSA was also reduced to 0.05%. The carbon sources of medium 65 of G. cholesterolivorans were decreased to 1 g/L glucose and 1 g/L yeast extract . Incubation was performed in the presence of 0.35% octocrylene.The medium of the positive octocrylene-colonizing strains 9Reference standard octocrylene was purchased from Sigma Aldrich Ltd, Saint Louis, MO, USA (≥98%). Reference substances 2-(Carboxymethyl)butyl-2-cyano-3,3-diphenylacrylat (DOCCA), 2-Cyano-3,3-diphenylacrylic acid (CPAA) and 2-Ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl-2-cyano-3,3-diphenylacrylate (5OH-OC) were provided by V.N. Belov, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany. Preparation and purity (>95%) are well described in ref. Hexane and dichloromethane were obtained from Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Acetonitrile (LC-MS grade) was obtained from Merck, Darmstadt, Germany, formic acid (additive for LC-MS) was purchased from Honeywell Fluka, Muskegon, USA.All reagents were of analytical grade. Deionized water was purified using a Milli-Q-system .M. agri and G. cholesterolivorans (and controls) (20 mL) was transferred to a centrifuge tube and 10 mL hexane/dichloromethane (1 + 2) was added. After 30 min stirring the sample was centrifuged (6000 rpm). The lower layer was stirred with NaSO4 and centrifuged  again. For GC-MS analysis the liquid was filled in a microbial. For LC-MSMS analysis 1 mL was filled in a volumetric flask, evaporated and refilled with acetonitrile.The whole incubation culture of Quantification of octocrylene and qualitative recording of products: The quantitative determination of octocrylene and qualitative recording of the products were carried out on an Agilent Technologies GCMS system 5977 A MSD with Gerstel KAS4 injection system. The mass selective detector (MSD) was operated in EI mode. All system operations were controlled by MassHunter B.07.001413. Separation and quantification were performed on an Agilent DB5MS ultra inert capillary column, 30 m × 0.25 mm × 0.25 µm film thickness. Sample volumes of 1 µL were injected in split mode (1:5) at 1 mL/min flow. GC system inlet and MS interface temperatures were set at 70 and 280 °C, respectively. The column temperature was programmed as follows: held at 70 °C for 2 min, then ramped up to 140 °C at 10 °C/min, held for 3 min, then to 300 °C at 100 °C/min. The total runtime was 17,6 min. The carrier gas was helium with constant flow of 1 mL/min, the MSD operating parameters were routinely set by tune file. EM potential was set at +1352 V, MS source temperature at 230 °C and the quadrupoles at 150 °C.m/z 249 and qualifying fragment ions m/z 360 and 204. Recording of products was done by TIC mode .Quantitative determination of octocrylene was done by SIM mode, with quantifying ion with Stock solution was prepared with a concentration of 5300 mg/L using dichloromethane as solvent. By diluting the stock solution with hexane-dichloromethane (1 + 2) calibration standards were prepared with levels from 5,0 mg/L to 200 mg/L. While the stock solution was stored at −18 °C, the calibration standards had to be newly made for each analytical run.Instrumentation and parameters: The quantitative determination of metabolites was carried out on an Agilent 1260 HPLC system , equipped with binary pump, degasser, thermostat autosampler, column oven, which is coupled to the Sciex Qtrap 5500 tandem mass spectrometer .Separation was achieved by using a Phenomenex Synergi Fusion RP 80 A column  with a Phenomenex standard C18 guard column. The mobile phase consisted of Milli-Q water with 0.1% formic acid (A) and acetonitrile with 0,1% formic acid (B), the flow rate was set to 0.7 mL/min. The gradient elution was programmed as follows: 0–3.5 min, 40% to 95% B (acetonitrile), 3.5–7.0 min 95% B, 7.1–10 min, 40% B.The injection volume was 5 µL, the column temperature was set to 35 °C.To detect all three available metabolites with at least two characteristic mass transitions per analyte in one run, the electrospray source of the tandem mass spectrometer operated simultaneously in positive and negative ion mode Table .Table 1CMass transitions, declustering potentials and collision energies for the compounds were obtained by direct infusion experiments with single compound standard solutions.The following mass spectrometer settings were used: Curtain gas 40 psi, source temperature 450 °C, ion spray 4500 V, −4500 V respectively, Gas 1/Gas2: 40/60 psi.Stock solutions were prepared with a concentration of 100 mg/L using acetonitrile. By diluting a mix standard solution (concentration 10 mg/L) calibration standards were prepared with acetonitrile/water (60/40) at levels from 2,0 µg/L to 100 µg/L. While the stock solutions were stored at −18 °C, the calibration standards had to be newly made for each analytical run.9.Due to a substantial peak separation, the identity of peaks could be confirmed using retention times and mass transitionsData were acquired and processed on Analyst 1.6.3. Quantification was carried out with an external calibration. The calibration curves were calculated by linear regression with a RSD of <20% and a coefficient of determination (R2) of >0.99.20.All biodegradation assays were performed in biological triplicates. The dot-plot format of Fig. Further information on research design is available in the Supplementary InformationPeer Review FileReporting Summary


Phytophthora colocasiae or taro leaf blight (TLB) is the most severe disease of taro' causing 25%–50% yield losses and postharvest decay of corms. The CePaCT genebank supported the participatory TLB breeding program in Samoa through the provision of diverse taro germplasm from the Asian gene pool. However, CePaCT not only serves taro producers in the Pacific but also shares new allelic diversity of taro globally. More recent distributions of taro genetic diversity to West and Central Africa were in response to an outbreak and spread of TLB in West Africa. Global dissemination of taro genetic diversity is assisting producer countries in the process of adaptation to emerging biotic and abiotic stresses, exacerbated by climate change.This review article gives an account of the origin, domestication, and dispersal of taro, a staple food crop in many countries in the humid tropics and subtropics. Genetic diversity studies indicated that distinct gene pools exist in all the regions where taro may be naturally distributed—the Indian subcontinent, China, Southeast Asia, and in Oceania. The Asian gene pool presented the highest genetic diversity. Diploid taro is prevalent in the Pacific Islands, while both diploids and triploids are found in mainland Asia. Triploids are thought to provide better adaptability and enhanced hardiness to higher altitudes and latitudes where sexual reproduction is not viable. The Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT) conserves  Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott)aro . Among the top five producer countries, China, with 19.3 tons per hectare, reaches the highest productivity.3Global taro production reached 10.1 million tons harvested from 1.5 million hectares in 2014, resulting in an average yield of 6.945 tons per hectare.1 However, for efficient corm production, leaves cannot be harvested at a young age, when they are best for consumption. Taro types are well adapted to different environments ranging from swidden fields in shifting cultivation, rainfed agriculture, and home gardens to paddy fields and swamps in China4 and elsewhere. As is common to root and tuber crops, cultivated taro is vegetatively propagated through offshoots (suckers) from the central corms or by sets which consist of part of the leaf stalk together with a portion of the sucker corm. Wild and naturalized taros propagate through stolons,5 but flowering and seed setting are also common.4 The latter is hardly observed in cultivated taros.While the corms and cormels are the most widely consumed plant part, the leaf blades, petioles, stolons, and inflorescences are also eaten, depending on the cultivar and local food habits.ex situ germplasm collections, and the role of the Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT). CePaCT is known as the global center for taro genetic resources and mandated to introduce, conserve, and share new taro genetic diversity with farmers, plant breeders, and other scientists. A concerted effort between the CePaCT genebank, introducing new taro genetic diversity in Pacific Island countries, and plant breeders helped overcome taro leaf blight (TLB) which had devastated the taro industry in Samoa in 1993.6 Given the more recent outbreak and spread of TLB in West Africa , CePaCT distributed taro germplasm globally to assist a wide range of producer countries with new genetic diversity for better adaptation to emerging biotic and abiotic stresses.This article reviews the origin, domestication, and dispersal of taro, its genetic diversity and 2 This is supported by genetic diversity studies conducted by Chaïr et al.7 which revealed that diversity was greater in accessions obtained from Asia compared to the Pacific, Africa, and the Americas. Within the Asian gene pool, India presented the highest numbers of alleles and private alleles.7It is believed that taro originated in the tropics ranging from India to Indonesia.C. esculenta cv. aquatilis which is widely distributed in southern Asia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and southwest China.4 Wild-type taro has relatively small corms, bears long, thin stolons, a short petiole, has green leaves, and tastes unpleasantly bitter. Through human selection, wild-type taro evolved into five main types, described as thick-petiole type with poor corm development, multi-inflorescence type, single corm type, multicormel type, and the stolon type, all of which are found in Yunnan province of China.4 The natural range of wild-type taro may extend up to Australia and New Guinea but is unlikely to have reached Polynesia due to sea barriers.2In its natural habitat taro is a semiaquatic tropical herb. It evolved into 8 Residue analyses of starch granules provide a lead to taro processing during the early and mid-Holocene in wetland areas of PNG.9 Dating of starch grains found in southwest Viti Levu, Fiji confirms early taro cultivation in the Pacific from 3050 to 2500 BCE.10Taro might be among the oldest cultivated crops as archaeological studies indicate that taro was already used 28,000 years ago in the Solomon Islands.7 Another hypothesis is that taro was domesticated independently in India and the Asia-Pacific region. According to Lebot11 a secondary domestication could have taken place in New Guinea. Sexual reproduction was the most likely route of taro diversification in Asia and the Pacific.7 All cultivars in the Pacific are diploid, and many flower and hybridize naturally due to the activity of insect pollinators11 resulting in a high clonal richness index.7 In contrast, clonal propagation combined with natural mutations appears to be a major driver of taro diversification in Africa and the Americas.Given the higher genetic diversity of the Indian gene pool, one could argue that taro was domesticated in India and spread from there to the Asia-Pacific region with subsequent diversion of the two gene pools due to distance.7 Taro cultivars in Madagascar can be traced to India and Indonesia, and this crop was among the first plants introduced by Austronesian settlers during the first and second Millennium CE.12 South African taro cultivars have a shared lineage with Japan.7 According to Blench,13 it is likely that taro was introduced to Africa together with bananas and the greater yam . Madeira was located on the route of Portuguese traders who sourced spices in India, and taro might have been introduced to Madeira between the 14th and 15th centuries.7 Taro is also found in the wild or cultivated on other Macaronesian Islands  that were important bases during the intensive Columbian Exchange between the 15th and 16th century.15 The Caribbean Islands received their taro cultivars from the Pacific, while Costa Rican cultivars can be traced to India or to admixtures between the Indian and Asian groups.As taro is not native to Africa and the Americas, it is believed that taro reached these continents through human migration. In West Africa, most cultivars are likely of Indian origin.16 chloroplast DNA,17 mitochondrial DNA,16 analysis of randomly amplified polymorphic DNA,18 isozymes,20 Amplified fragment length polymorphism markers,21 and microsatellite markers.7 These studies indicate that distinct gene pools exist in all the regions where taro may be naturally distributed—the Indian subcontinent, China and Southeast Asia , and Oceania .22 The Asian gene pool presented the highest genetic diversity as indicated by the number of private alleles and Shannon index.7Genetic diversity studies on taro have been undertaken with tests for ribosomal DNA,22 revealed that diversity among Indonesian diploid cultivars was unexpectedly high and resulted in two separate clusters, one with a clear relationship with the Pacific gene pool and the other one with the Asian gene pool. This can be explained by the fact that Irian Jaya is part of the island of New Guinea but is an Indonesian province. Indonesian provinces are located on both sides of the Wallace line which separates the Sunda plate (Southeast Asia) from the Sahul plate comprising New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania.23 The majority of the diploid cultivars from Thailand also originated from the Pacific.22Genetic diversity studies conducted by Kreike et al.2 Triploids arise when unreduced gametes (1n = 2x = 28) from one parent flower meet normal gametes (1n = 1x = 14) from another parent flower. Diploid taro is prevalent in the Pacific Islands, while triploids are found in mainland Asia.2 In his genetic diversity studies, Chaïr et al.7 demonstrated a clear grouping of diploids from the Asia-Pacific region and diploids and triploids from Indian origin. It appears that all triploids can be attributed to the Indian gene pool or might have emerged from hybridization between the Indian and Asia-Pacific gene pools and spread from there to other countries. Within the Indian gene pool, triploids are genetically quite similar to diploids, supporting the idea of a generative multiplication of the chromosome set.24Diploids (2n = 2x = 28 chromosomes) and triploids (2n = 3x = 42 chromosomes) are common in taro, while tetraploids are quite rare.20 Only diploids are exclusively found in China's extreme south (Hainan province), a mixture of diploids and triploids exists in southern China (Yunnan province), and only triploids are encountered in central, eastern, and northern China.20 In unfavorable environments for the natural breeding of diploids, the additional chromosome set likely provides triploid taros with better adaptability and the enhanced hardiness needed to survive the conditions at higher elevations and latitudes.24Surveys in China, India, and Nepal revealed that triploids predominate at higher altitudes and latitudes.Abelmoschus manihot), breadfruit, cassava, pandanus, ginger, pineapple, sugarcane, sandalwood, and vanilla. CePaCT's entire collection comprises 2151 accessions, and the Center primarily uses in vitro technology to conserve its crop collections at its Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory in Suva, Fiji.The CePaCT of the Pacific Community (SPC), originally known as the Regional Germplasm Centre, was established in 1998 with funding from the Australian Government and the European Union. CePaCT and its genetic resources program is one of the four pillars of the Land Resources Division of SPC. CePaCT aims to assist Pacific Island Countries and Territories in the process of conservation and sustainable utilization of their genetic resources. At the same time, the Center facilitates access to improved germplasm through the acquisition of new sources of genetic diversity from other international genebanks and through the sharing of elite germplasm derived from crop improvement programs in the Pacific. Currently, CePaCT maintains the largest taro collection (1136 accessions) comprising germplasm from the Pacific and South East Asia. In addition, the Center conserves other important crops of the region, including yam (330 accessions), sweet potato (324), banana (157), swamp taro (66), and potato (54). It also has smaller collections of bele .Except for in vitro and in the screenhouse; cryopreservation of taro and other edible aroids; evaluation of the impact of Dasheen mosaic virus and other related viruses on taro yield; and participatory plant breeding to develop leaf blight tolerant taro varieties with good market traits. Efforts are currently underway to explore the use of cryopreservation for long-term conservation of major crops conserved at CePaCT to complement in vitro conservation.Research undertaken by CePaCT has focused, for example, on taro micropropagation, including the use of the bioreactor system to mass propagate elite taro cultivars for commercial planting; screening swamp taro cultivars for salt tolerance Colocasia spp.) accessions were held ex situ in 2017 by 14 institutes25  on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, a total of 1685 taro (itutes25 . The CeP as seed . Based owww.genesys-pgr.org/welcome). It provides accession-level information pooled from a range of different portals such as SINGER, EURISCO, and GRIN. The Genesys portal lists only the taro genetic resources held by CePaCT in Fiji, the Centro de Conservación Agrícola de Tenerife (ESP172), Spain, and the World Vegetable Center (TWN001), Taiwan, but gives a detailed account of the countries of origin26 (http://presto.thepais.net/Presto/home/home.aspx).Genesys, a global gateway to plant genetic resources, was developed by Bioversity International in collaboration with the Crop Trust and the Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and launched in 2011 (origin26 . CePaCT'27 (1118 accessions), PNG27 (700), and Indonesia27 (685) are not listed in the WIEWS database.It is doubtful whether the WIEWS holding list, which is built on crop/germplasm statistics provided by each country at certain intervals, is complete as it does not comprise taro holdings in India and Southeast Asia, except Malaysia. From a survey conducted by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, the significant taro collections of IndiaThe CePaCT taro holdings comprise accessions from the Pacific Island countries, the highest number provided by PNG, Samoa, and Solomon Islands, and from several Southeast Asian countries, Indonesia being the largest contributor . The CeP28 In total, 2199 accessions of taro germplasm have been collected under the TaroGen (Taro Genetic Resources: Conservation and Utilization) project, funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). Germplasm was collected from the following 10 countries in Oceania: PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Palau, Niue, Tonga, Cook Islands, and Samoa and maintained ex situ at the national level. About 10% of accessions from each country were selected based on phenotypic data and taro-specific simple sequence repeat markers to contribute to a regional core collection. DNA fingerprinting data revealed great allelic diversity among accessions from PNG29 and the Solomon Islands.28The CePaCT genebank conserves a regional taro core collection originating from Oceania which has been developed based on phenotypic and molecular characterization.30 Taro is no exception to these threats, and significant losses in taro field collections in the Pacific have been reported by Taylor et al.31Field genebanks are commonly used for the conservation of taro genetic resources in the Pacific and other taro growing regions. However, field genebanks are always highly vulnerable due to their exposure to the risks of biotic and abiotic stresses and high maintenance costs.in vitro culture under slow growth for short-to-medium term conservation and cryopreservation for long-term conservation. In vitro conservation has several advantages as accessions are not subjected to the risks of climate variability and pest and disease outbreaks, and tissue culture procedures also provide a means to eliminate most surface pathogens. Moreover, pathogen testing (virus-indexing) is routinely done to ensure that germplasm is distributed without the risk of spreading pathogens. However, in vitro conservation carries the risk of somaclonal variation, especially in the presence of growth regulators. At CePaCT, growth regulators are only added to the medium at the initial establishment and multiplication stage. During the maintenance phase only standard Murashige and Skoog medium is used, which is expected to have minimal effect on somaclonal variation, if any.Alternative conservation strategies for vegetatively propagated crops and species with recalcitrant seeds are −2s−1 provided by daylight type fluorescent lamps. Ten tubes with one plantlet each per accession are maintained for conservation purposes  is a proven alternative for taro long-term conservation. A new droplet vitrification protocol improved the post-thaw regeneration rates from the range of 21%–30% to 73%–100%.31 These efforts should be complemented by in situ or on-farm conservation strategies to preserve a wider range of taro genetic resources with locally preferred traits by farmers and consumers, thereby strengthening the link between conservation and use. While CePaCT has been attested to have very efficient germplasm conservation, health testing, and distribution mechanisms in place, the Center, in general, distributes its germplasm through government agencies, and the national capacities are not always adequate to handle tissue-cultured material effectively and efficiently so that germplasm shared by CePaCT does not always reach and benefit the farmers as end users. Efforts are currently underway to engage with other national stakeholders such as NGOs, private sector companies, producer associations, churches, research organizations, and universities to establish other complementary germplasm distribution and testing pathways which might help to reach farmers more effectively.Establishing national taro field genebanks and a regional core collection maintained by the CePaCT have been important steps in the conservation and sustainable use of taro genetic resources in the Pacific.Phytophthora colocasiae Racib., started to inflict severe damage to the crop and soon reached epidemic proportions due to the widespread dominance of the commercial cultivar “Niue.”6 However, the disease did not only affect the cultivar “Niue” but all 11 traditional cultivars grown in Samoa at that time, a clear sign of lack of genetic diversity.Taro is a staple starchy food found all over the Pacific Island countries and is of great cultural and economic importance. It is the most important root crop in Samoa and was its top export earner up to 1993, when an outbreak of TLB, caused by 34 Two mating types, A1 and A2, are known, and the disease is likely to have originated on Hainan Island, China. The causal agent of TLB was first described by Raciborksi as Phytophthora colocasiae in 1890 from Indonesia, followed by reports on TLB in Taiwan in 1911, India in 1913, Philippines in 1925, Sri Lanka and Malaysia in 1939, Hawaii in 1941, Marinas, Carolines, and Burma in 1943, Solomon Islands in 1960, PNG in 1963, Trust Territories of Pacific Islands in 1971, Africa and the Caribbean in 1978, and American Samoa and Samoa in 1993.34TLB is the most severe disease of taro causing 25%–50% yield loss and postharvest decay of the corms.6 This approach allowed the safe movement of germplasm from the CePaCT to the Taro Improvement Project (TIP) which was established with support from TaroGen at the University of the South Pacific in Samoa.35The impact of TLB on Samoa, the erosion of taro genetic resources in the Pacific and the threat of the disease to other Pacific Island countries, gave rise to the TaroGen project mentioned in the previous section. It started in 1998 and led to the collection of around 2200 taro accessions from 10 Pacific Island countries, out of which a regional core collection of 196 accessions was formed, and the CePaCT was mandated to conserve and share accessions of this core collection with Pacific Island countries for breeding purposes. With funds provided by ACIAR, the University of Queensland supported DNA fingerprinting and virus indexing of the taro core collection.36 The CePaCT genebank supported the participatory breeding program in Samoa through the provision of more diverse taro germplasm imported from the Asian gene pool. With support from the European Commission INCO-DC program, the Taro Network for Southeast Asia and Oceania (TANSAO) was established in 1998 and administered by CIRAD . Under this network, 2300 accessions and elite cultivars were collected from Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and a core set of 168 accessions has been established based on morphological and isozyme data, representative of the genetic diversity of the countries involved.27Crop-focused participatory appraisals were conducted with farmers' groups to elicit taro production constraints and farmers' perceptions of key taro traits for the selection of taro cultivars.6 As the CePaCT genebank collections were designated to the International Treaty in 2009, elite taro lines conserved by CePaCT are now available globally. The core set was transferred to the CePaCT genebank, virus tested, and selected accessions were made available by CePaCT for use by the national breeding programs in Samoa and Vanuatu. This approach allowed the breeding of new taro cultivars with a much broader genetic diversity for stable disease resistance, drought tolerance, and good palatability. Elite breeding lines from the TIP were shared with the CePaCT genebank for virus indexing, inclusion into the regional collection, and for sharing with other countries in the Pacific.37 the global leader in taro production, and Ghana,38 also among the top five global producers, access to TLB-resistant germplasm became vital. However, introducing new allelic diversity of taro globally is not only relevant for TLB resistance breeding but also for better adaptation to abiotic stresses exacerbated by climate change.With the recent TLB outbreak and spread in West Africa, in Nigeria,SPC-CePaCT, one of the lead organizations of the INEA project, funded by the European Union, responded to this global threat and provided in most cases 50 virus-indexed taro genotypes to 15 countries in Africa , Latin America (Costa Rica and Nicaragua), the Caribbean , Asia , and the Pacific  during the second half of 2011.39 The breeding lines introduced from Hawaii, PNG, and Samoa outperformed local varieties in most countries in terms of yield and TLB tolerance. Surprisingly, several elite, TLB-tolerant cultivars from Southeast Asia performed better than the breeding lines from Hawaii, PNG, and Samoa in four countries.39 In South Africa, none of the 50 introduced genotypes performed better than local varieties. The best performers were distributed to farmers for participatory on-farm evaluation. In addition, introduced genotypes were successfully crossed with local cultivars to create novel diversity for future challenges.The performance of the genotypes distributed under the INEA project was evaluated on-station and compared to elite local germplasm.The genetic diversity of a clonally propagated crop like taro is expected to be narrow, especially in countries where it was introduced through vegetative propagules. This narrow genetic base not only makes the crop extremely susceptible to biotic stresses like TLB disease but also to abiotic stresses. Collecting and conserving the existing wild and cultivated genetic diversity in the countries of origin and diversity and sharing this diversity with producer countries in other parts of the world, in Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean is a strongly recommended approach. The CePaCT genebank in Fiji has assumed this role of conservation of taro genetic resources, virus indexing, and safe sharing of this resource with taro germplasm users worldwide. Crossing and backcrossing introduced germplasm with local elite cultivars is an assurance for farmers that the newly created cultivars are more likely to withstand emerging biotic and abiotic stresses, exacerbated by climate change.CePaCT is in the process of engaging with other national stakeholders to strengthen national seed/planting material systems and to ensure that farmers benefit from elite germplasm conserved at and shared by the Center. With an efficient droplet vitrification protocol in place that results in post-thaw regeneration rates between 70% and 100%, applicable to a wide range of taro genotypes, CePaCT is now planning to establish a cryopreservation facility for long-term preservation of taro and, thereafter, other major crops currently conserved in tissue culture at the Center. Eventually, this will also include the long-term cryopreservation of coconut genetic resources of the Pacific.