Inheritance of race 1.2 Fusarium wilt resistance in four melon cultivars

The resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. melonis (Fom) race 1.2 has been studied in melons, such as the Portuguese accession ‘BG-5384’ and in the Japanese ‘Shiro Uri Okayama’, ‘Kogane Nashi Makuwa’, and ‘C-211’, since a good characterization of the resistance is necessary before its introgression into commercial varieties. These four melon accessions showed a high level of resistance to races 0, 1, and 2 of Fom, indicating that the partial resistance to the race 1.2 previously detected may not have been race specific. To determine the mode of inheritance of the resistance to Fom race 1.2, the F₁, F₂, BCP_R, and BCP_S generations from the crosses between the four resistant accessions above and ‘Piel de Sapo’, a Fom race 1.2 susceptible melon, were developed. They were subsequently inoculated with two Fom isolates, one from the pathotype 1.2Y and the other from the pathotype 1.2W. The area under the disease progress curve was determined for each inoculated plant, and the data were analyzed. We show that the resistance seen in these accessions is polygenically inherited with a complex genetic control because many epistatic interactions were detected. The three epistatic effects; additivity × additivity, dominance × dominance, and dominance × additivity are present and significant, with differing magnitudes from one cross to the next. The relatively low heritabilities, and these epistatic effects make difficult the improvement of the resistance, from these sources, through a standard selection procedure.     

Competitive and allelopathic interference between soybean crop and annual wormwood (Artemisia annua L.) under field conditions

Annual wormwood interference on soybean crop growth and yield may result from competition and allelopathy, which are modulated by crop management. Allelochemicals released by annual wormwood (e.g. artemisinin) may affect the crop directly or indirectly through the effect on the nitrogen fixing symbiont, Bradyrhizobium japonicum. The objectives were (i) to quantify the crop response (i.e. biomass production, nodulation and yield) to weed interference and (ii) to determinate the relative change of competition and allelopathy interferences, when a sublethal dose of herbicide is applied. Two split plot field experiments with three replications were used. The experiment involved a factorial combination of five weed–crop density (soybean/annual wormwood, plants m^?2) levels: D1, pure soybean, 40/0 plants m^?2; D2, 40/2 plants m^?2; D3, 40/4 plants m^?2 and D4, 40/8 plants m^?2, and D5, pure annual wormwood, 0/8 plants m^?2, two activated carbon (allelopathy) levels: C?, with activated carbon (reduced allelopathy) and C+, non activated carbon applied (with allelopathy) and two herbicide levels: H?, untreated and H+, treated with a sub-lethal dose of glyphosate. Activated carbon to adsorb allelochemicals (with and without activated carbon) and glyphosate application (with and no herbicide) were assigned to sub-plots. Increasing weed density did not affect crop biomass at flowering, but changed nodule number and soybean yield with a different pattern depending on carbon and herbicide treatment. Relative crop yield decreased with increasing relative weed biomass. This decrease was particularly drastic when allelopathy was reduced by activated carbon and without herbicide application. The maximum yield losses of 33% in 2006 and 17% in 2007 were observed with the highest weed density (8 plants m^?2). In contrast, without carbon (high allelopathy level), soybean yield remained stable within the explored range of annual wormwood biomass, despite the fact that weed biomass at high densities (D4) was high enough to generate competition. The lack of response to increasing weed density could be related to the indirect effect of allelochemicals interacting with soil microorganisms (i.e. B. japonicum) that positively affected the nodulation (e.g. larger nodules in 2006 and increased nodules biomass due to higher number of roots in 2007 at high densities). With herbicide application, soybean yield of both carbon treatments remained stable when biomass of annual wormwood increased. This research provided strong evidence in support of the existence of positive effect of allelopathic and competitive interactions between annual wormwood and soybean crop under field conditions that may be overridden under herbicide application.     

Reference evapotranspiration estimation without local climatic data

The Penman–Monteith equation for reference evapotranspiration (ET_o) estimation cannot be applied in many situations, because climatic records are totally or partially not available or reliable. In these cases, empirical equations that rely on few climatic variables are necessary. Nevertheless, the uncertainty associated with empirical model estimations is often high. Thus, the improvement of methods relying on few climatic inputs as well as the development of emergency estimation tools that demand no local climatic records turns into a task of great relevance. The present study describes different approaches based on multiple linear regression, simple regression and artificial neural networks (ANNs) to deal with ET_o estimation exclusively from exogenous records from secondary stations. This cross-station approach is based on a continental characterization of the study region, which enables the selection and hierarchization of the most suitable ancillary data supplier stations. This procedure is compared with different traditional and cross-station approaches, including methodologies that also consider local temperature inputs. The proposed methods are also evaluated as gap infilling procedures and compared with a simple methodology, the window averaging. The artificial neural network and the multiple linear regression approaches present very similar performance accuracies, considerably higher than simple regression and traditional temperature-based approaches. The proposed input combinations allow similar performance accuracies as ANN models relying on exogenous ET_o records and local temperature measurements. The cross-station multiple linear regression procedure is recommended due to its higher simplicity.     

Diet drives convergence in gut microbiome functions across mammalian phylogeny and within humans

Coevolution of mammals and their gut microbiota has profoundly affected their radiation into myriad habitats. We used shotgun sequencing of microbial community DNA and targeted sequencing of bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA genes to gain an understanding of how microbial communities adapt to extremes of diet. We sampled fecal DNA from 33 mammalian species and 18 humans who kept detailed diet records, and we found that the adaptation of the microbiota to diet is similar across different mammalian lineages. Functional repertoires of microbiome genes, such as those encoding carbohydrate-active enzymes and proteases, can be predicted from bacterial species assemblages. These results illustrate the value of characterizing vertebrate gut microbiomes to understand host evolutionary histories at a supraorganismal level.     

Deciphering the reaction dynamics underlying optimal control laser fields

Femtosecond high-resolution pump-probe experiments have been used together with theoretical ab initio quantum calculations and wave packet dynamics simulations to decode an optimal femtosecond pulse that is generated from adaptive learning algorithms. This pulse is designed to maximize the yield of the organometallic ion CpMn(CO)3 while hindering the competing fragmentation. The sequential excitation and ionization of the target ion are accomplished by an optimized field consisting of two dominant subpulses with optimal frequencies and time delays.     

Kinetics of morphogen gradient formation

In the developing fly wing, secreted morphogens such as Decapentaplegic (Dpp) and Wingless (Wg) form gradients of concentration providing positional information. Dpp forms a longer-range gradient than Wg. To understand how the range is controlled, we measured the four key kinetic parameters governing morphogen spreading: the production rate, the effective diffusion coefficient, the degradation rate, and the immobile fraction. The four parameters had different values for Dpp versus Wg. In addition, Dynamin-dependent endocytosis was required for spreading of Dpp, but not Wg. Thus, the cellular mechanisms of Dpp and Wingless spreading are different: Dpp spreading requires endocytic, intracellular trafficking.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of the vitreous body

Imaging with proton nuclear magnetic resonance is a valuable new tool for studying the vitreous body of the eye. It is particularly suited for the detection of vitreal liquefaction and intraocular hemorrhage because of the dependence of the signal on the physical environment of water. Conversely, the vitreous body provides a new model for studying changes in proton relaxation times of protein solutions in biological systems.     

Resveratrol oligomers isolated from Carex species inhibit growth of human colon tumorigenic cells mediated by cell cycle arrest

Research has shown that members of the Carex genus produce biologically active stilbenoids including resveratrol oligomers. This is of great interest to the nutraceutical industry given that resveratrol, a constituent of grape and red wine, has attracted immense research attention due to its potential human health benefits. In the current study, five resveratrol oligomers (isolated from Carex folliculata and Carex gynandra ), along with resveratrol, were evaluated for antiproliferative effects against human colon cancer (HCT-116, HT-29, Caco-2) and normal human colon (CCD-18Co) cells. The resveratrol oligomers included one dimer, two trimers, and two tetramers: pallidol (1); α-viniferin (2) and trans-miyabenol C (3); and kobophenols A (4) and B (5), respectively. Although not cytotoxic, the resveratrol oligomers (1-5), as well as resveratrol, inhibited growth of the human colon cancer cells. Among the six stilbenoids, α-viniferin (2) was most active against the colon cancer cells with IC(50) values of 6-32 μM (>2-fold compared to normal colon cells). Moreover, α-viniferin (at 20 μM) did not induce apoptosis but arrested cell cycle (in the S-phase) for the colon cancer but not the normal colon cells. This study adds to the growing body of knowledge supporting the anticancer effects of resveratrol and its oligomers. Furthermore, Carex species should be investigated for their nutraceutical potential given that they produce biologically active stilbenoids such as α-viniferin.     

Bioactive cinchona alkaloids from Remijia peruviana

Three known Cinchona alkaloids of the quinine type, quinine (1), cupreine (2), cinchonine (3), and the possible artifact cinchonine-HCl (3-HCl), along with two new ones, acetylcupreine (4) and N-ethylquinine (5), have been isolated from the bark of Remijia peruviana (Rubiaceae). Their stereochemical structures were established by high resolution NMR spectroscopy. Alkaloids 2-4 had antifeedant effects on Leptinotarsa decemlineata with varying potencies. Compound 4 was cytotoxic to both insect Sf9 and mammalian CHO cells after 48 h of incubation, while 3-HCl had stronger and selective cytotoxicity to Sf9. Quinine 1 had a moderate to low effect on Trypanosoma cruzi. Tumoral cells were also affected by these alkaloids, with 4 and 3-HCl being the most cytotoxic to all the cell lines tested. Overall, the 8R, 9S configurations, as in 3 and 3-HCl, as well as the C-6'acetylated alkaloid 4, with an 8S, 9R configuration, showed stronger biological effects.