Orbital-independent superconducting gaps in iron pnictides

The origin of superconductivity in the iron pnictides has been attributed to antiferromagnetic spin ordering that occurs in close combination with a structural transition, but there are also proposals that link superconductivity to orbital ordering. We used bulk-sensitive laser angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on BaFe(2)(As(0.65)P(0.35))(2) and Ba(0.6)K(0.4)Fe(2)As(2) to elucidate the role of orbital degrees of freedom on the electron-pairing mechanism. In strong contrast to previous studies, an orbital-independent superconducting gap magnitude was found for the hole Fermi surfaces. Our result is not expected from the superconductivity associated with spin fluctuations and nesting, but it could be better explained invoking magnetism-induced interorbital pairing, orbital fluctuations, or a combination of orbital and spin fluctuations. Regardless of the interpretation, our results impose severe constraints on theories of iron pnictides.     

Nodulation signaling in legumes requires NSP2, a member of the GRAS family of transcriptional regulators

Rhizobial bacteria enter a symbiotic interaction with legumes, activating diverse responses in roots through the lipochito oligosaccharide signaling molecule Nod factor. Here, we show that NSP2 from Medicago truncatula encodes a GRAS protein essential for Nod-factor signaling. NSP2 functions downstream of Nod-factor-induced calcium spiking and a calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase. We show that NSP2-GFP expressed from a constitutive promoter is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum/nuclear envelope and relocalizes to the nucleus after Nod-factor elicitation. This work provides evidence that a GRAS protein transduces calcium signals in plants and provides a possible regulator of Nod-factor-inducible gene expression.     

Somaclonal breeding of reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.)

Tissue culture‐induced variants (somaclones) of reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) were developed from callus cells of aseptic spikelet cultures. Molecular polymorphism of the populations of somaclones and spikelet‐donor plants as natural vegetative clones were compared by the application of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based techniques of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)‐, simple sequence repeat (SSR)‐, and inter‐simple sequence repeat (ISSR)‐PCR to genomic DNA samples. The genetic diversity was higher in the somaclones compared with vegetative clones as measured by the maximum genetic distance (MaxGD) which increased from 0·401 (vegetative clones) to 0·498 (somaclones). Along with this change, the minimum genetic distance (MinGD) decreased from 0·20 (control plants) to 0·06 (somaclones) which demonstrated that genetic changes occurred not only in a positive (dissimilarity, MaxGD), but also in a negative (similarity, MinGD) direction. Structural carbohydrate analyses were also performed on the leaves to compare the somaclones with the donor vegetative clones. The mean neutral‐detergent and acid‐detergent fibre concentrations of the leaves of the somaclones were about 0·20 lower than the donor vegetative clones suggesting that increases in the digestibility could be obtained from the somaclonal material.     

Multiple rare alleles contribute to low plasma levels of HDL cholesterol

Heritable variation in complex traits is generally considered to be conferred by common DNA sequence polymorphisms. We tested whether rare DNA sequence variants collectively contribute to variation in plasma levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). We sequenced three candidate genes (ABCA1, APOA1, and LCAT) that cause Mendelian forms of low HDL-C levels in individuals from a population-based study. Nonsynonymous sequence variants were significantly more common (16% versus 2%) in individuals with low HDL-C (95th percentile). Similar findings were obtained in an independent population, and biochemical studies indicated that most sequence variants in the low HDL-C group were functionally important. Thus, rare alleles with major phenotypic effects contribute significantly to low plasma HDL-C levels in the general population.     

Medicago truncatula DMI1 required for bacterial and fungal symbioses in legumes

Legumes form symbiotic associations with both mycorrhizal fungi and nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria called rhizobia. Several of the plant genes required for transduction of rhizobial signals, the Nod factors, are also necessary for mycorrhizal symbiosis. Here, we describe the cloning and characterization of one such gene from the legume Medicago truncatula. The DMI1 (does not make infections) gene encodes a novel protein with low global similarity to a ligand-gated cation channel domain of archaea. The protein is highly conserved in angiosperms and ancestral to land plants. We suggest that DMI1 represents an ancient plant-specific innovation, potentially enabling mycorrhizal associations.     

Preliminary results about the efficacy of abamectin trunk injection against the walnut husk fly (Rhagoletis completa)

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - The walnut husk fly (Rhagoletis completa) is one of the main pests affecting common walnut in both Europe and America. This work examines the effects of...     

Replacement levels of elephant grass by moist pineapple by-product silage in diets of Santa Inês crossbred sheep: performance and digestibility

The present study evaluated the effect of replacing elephant grass (EG) with moist pineapple by-product silage (PS) on the apparent digestibility, consumption of digestible nutrients and performance of 25 castrated male lambs Santa Ines crossbreds. The lambs had an initial body weight of 20.2?±?3.5 kg and were housed in individual pens in a completely randomised design with five treatments (replacement of EG by PS at five proportions of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 %) and five replicates during 74 days. There was no significant effect of PS replacement proportions on the intake of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), total carbohydrates (TC), non-fibrous carbohydrates or total digestible nutrients (TDN). The consumption of crude protein (CP) decreased linearly with the inclusion of PS in the diets. The digestibility of DM, OM and TCs as well as levels of TDN increased linearly with the addition of PS. The use of PS in the diets had no significant effect on the digestibility of CP and neutral detergent fibre corrected for ashes and protein (NDFom(n)). These results demonstrated that there was no difference in the performance of animals fed diets with or without PS.     

Bovine abortion associated with Neospora caninum in Hungary

The authors report the first case of bovine neosporosis in Hungary based on investigations made on an aborted fetus. The diagnostic methods included traditional as well as molecular techniques. This record extends further the geographic range of the disease.