Sweetpotato is an important crop that exhibits hexaploidy and high heterozygosity, which limits gene mining for important agronomic traits. Here, 314 sweetpotato germplasm resources were deeply resequenced, and 4,599,509 SNPs and 846,654 InDels were generated, among which 196,124 SNPs were nonsynonymous and 9690 InDels were frameshifted. Based on the Indels, genome-wide marker primers were designed, and 3219 of 40,366 primer pairs were selected to construct the core InDel marker set. The molecular ID of 104 sweetpotato samples verified the availability of these primers. The sweetpotato population structures were then assessed through multiple approaches using SNPs, and diverse approaches demonstrated that population stratification was not obvious for most Chinese germplasm resources. As many as 20 important agronomic traits were evaluated, and a genome-wide association study was conducted on these traits. A total of 19 high-confidence loci were detected in both models. These loci included several candidate genes, such as IbMYB1, IbZEP1, and IbYABBY1, which might be involved in anthocyanin metabolism, carotenoid metabolism, and leaf morphogenesis, respectively. Among them, IbZEP1 and IbYABBY1 were first reported in sweetpotato. The variants in the promoter and the expression levels of IbZEP1 were significantly correlated with flesh color (orange or not orange) in sweetpotato. The expression levels of IbYABBY1 were also correlated with leaf shape. These results will assist in genetic and breeding studies in sweetpotato.

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease is a rare and serious ocular adverse reaction following COVID-19 vaccination. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical features, diagnosis and management of COVID-19 vaccine-associated VKH disease. Case reports of VKH disease after COVID-19 vaccination were collected up to February 11, 2023 for retrospective analysis. Twenty-one patients (9 males and 12 females) were included, with a median age of 45 years (range 19–78), from three main regions, Asia (12/21), the Mediterranean region (4/21), and South America (5/21). Fourteen patients developed symptoms after the first dose of the vaccine, and 8 after the second dose. Vaccines included mRNA vaccine (10 cases), virus vector vaccine (6 cases), and inactivated vaccine (5 cases). The average time interval from vaccination to onset of symptoms was 7.5 days (range 12 hours to 4 weeks). All 21 patients experienced visual impairment after vaccination, with 20 cases involving both eyes. Sixteen patients showed symptoms of meningitis. Serous retinal detachment was observed in 16 patients, choroidal thickening was observed in 14, aqueous cell in 9, and subretinal fluid in 6. CSF pleocytosis was detected in 7 patients and skin symptoms were found in 3 patients. All patients received corticosteroid therapy, and 8 also received immunosuppressive agents. All patients recovered well, with a mean recovery time of 2 months. Early diagnosis and early treatment are crucial to the prognosis of patients with VKH after vaccination with COVID-19 vaccine. The risk of vaccination against COVID-19 in patients with a history of VKH disease should be evaluated clinically.

Adolescence is a critical period of rapid bone mass growth, and achieving higher bone mineral density (BMD) during this period can help prevent osteoporosis. The effects of metallic mercury on bone health remain unclear and controversial. Numerous studies have focused on perimenopausal women and older adults, and the association of blood mercury with bone mineral density in adolescents has not been discussed. This study aimed to collect data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2018 to explore the association of blood mercury levels with bone mineral density in adolescents. Based on the results of statistical analyses of 2818 participants, we found that blood mercury levels were negatively associated with bone mineral density in adolescents, although not signi cantly. Additionally, the trend in bone mineral density with changes in blood mercury was different in male and female adolescents. We also found an inverted U-shaped association between blood mercury and bone mineral density in male and Mexican American adolescents. This suggests that increased blood mercury levels within a range may be bene cial for bone health in male adolescents (in ection point: 5.44 nmol/L) and Mexican-American adolescents (in ection point: 5.49 nmol/L), while higher blood mercury levels may be detrimental to bone health. Due to the design of this study, more prospective studies are needed to con rm our ndings.