Leafy amaranths, which are consumed as traditional food in Asia and Africa, are now considered among the most promising vegetables. In Vietnam, leafy amaranths, particularly Amaranthus tricolor L., are important summer vegetables due to their excellent nutritional values and high tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, this species has not been subjected to systematic breeding. Here we describe species identification and evaluation of the genetic diversity of Vietnamese amaranth collection by using matK and simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers. Our phylogenetic analysis based on the matK marker classified the species of 68% of the accessions, of which 120 belonged to A. tricolor. We developed 21 SSR markers, which amplified a total of 153 alleles in 294 A. tricolor accessions originating from Vietnam and overseas, with a mean allelic richness of 7.29 per marker, observed heterozygosity of 0.14, expected heterozygosity of 0.38, and polymorphic information content of 0.35. The STRUCTURE and F ST analysis indicated a positive relationship between geographic distance and genetic differentiation among most of the overseas groups and the Vietnamese col lection, but not among geographic groups within the Vietnamese collection. Vietnamese amaranths could be divided into two major types, one common in East Asia and the other one unique to Vietnam.

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Purpose: Traumatic cervical spondyloptosis is a rare clinical pathology that often causes complete paralysis. When a patient presents neurologically intact or incomplete paralysis, the management becomes more complicated. Preservation of neural function and restoration of anatomic alignment collectively remain the golden goals of therapy. There are still few reports on this issue, however, the existing literature did not clearly define severity of injuries and the treatment strategy in such cases. On the occasion of reporting one treated traumatic C6-7 spondyloptosis case, we reviewed existing literatures. Material and Methods: The patient was a 48-year-old man who had motorcycle accident and was presented with post-operation for right frontal epidural hematoma in 3 days before admitting to hospital. Neurological assessment showed motor strength grade 3/5 in the proximal upper and lower-extremity muscle groups on the right side, and 1/5 on the left side with incontinence of sphincters. X-rays and computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a three-column ligamentous injury with complete anterior displacement of C6 to C7 vertebral body. We applied the “Key - Lock” principle for better understanding of the biomechanics of the injury and found out the favorable strategy. The patient underwent posterior approach with decompression and anterior approach with reduction and anterior cervical discectomy fusion for C6-7. Results: After 8 months follow-up, the patient had recovered muscular strength in bilateral upper and lower-extremities muscle groups, sphincter function had fully recovered, and he was able to ambulate by himself. Plain radiograph and CT scan showed good aligment and progressive maturation of his fusion procedure. Conclusion: Traumatic cervical spondyloptosis of C6-7 is a high-energy unstable fracture and rare. This report develops a new principle called “Key and Lock” for more understand the biomechanics of the injury and treatment. Our patient was successfully treated with open reduction, decompression, and anterior cervical discectomy fusion.