Sub-toxic Ethanol Exposure Modulates Gene Expression and Enzyme Activity of Antioxidant Systems to Provide Neuroprotection in Hippocampal HT22 Cells

Ethanol is known to cause severe systemic damage often explained as secondary to oxidative stress. Brain is particularly vulnerable to ethanol-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) because the high amounts of lipids, and because nerve cell membranes contain high amounts of peroxidable fatty acids. Usually these effects of ethanol are associated to high and/or chronic exposure to ethanol. However, as we show in this manuscript, a low and acute dose of ethanol trigger a completely different response in hippocampal cells. Thus, we have observed that 0.1% ethanol exposure to HT22 cells, a murine hippocampal-derived cell line, increases the transcriptional expression of different genes belonging to the classical, glutathione/glutaredoxin and thioredoxin/peroxiredoxin antioxidant systems, these including Sod1, Sod2, Gpx1, Gclc, and Txnrd1. Paralleling these changes, enzyme activities of total superoxide dismutase (tSOD), catalase, total glutathione peroxidase (tGPx), glutathione-S-reductase (GSR), and total thioredoxin reductase (tTXNRD), were all increased, while the generation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), as indicators of lipid peroxidation, and glutathione levels remained unaltered. Ethanol exposure did not affect cell viability or cell growing as assessed by real-time cell culture monitoring, indicating that low ethanol doses are not deleterious for hippocampal cells, but rather prevented glutamate-induced excitotoxicity. In summary, we conclude that sub-toxic exposure to ethanol may well be neuroprotective against oxidative insults in hippocampal cells.Supported by grants SAF2010-22114-C02-01 and SAF2014-52582-R from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain). VC and DQ held fellowships from Gobierno de Canarias and Fundación Cajacanarias, respectively.Peer reviewedPeer Reviewe

Culinary and sensory traits diversity in the Spanish Core Collection of common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

The Spanish National Plant Genetic Resource Center’s core collection of bean germplasm includes 202 accessions selected from more than 3000 accessions in function of passport data, seed phenotype, genetic background, and agronomic traits. To acquire more useful information about these accessions, we cultivated and characterized them for sensory and culinary traits. We found considerable variation for culinary and sensory traits of the cooked beans (mean coefficients of variation: 41% for the sensory traits and 40% for the culinary traits). The large dataset enabled us to study correlations between sensory and culinary traits and among these traits and geographic origin, seed color, and growth habit. Greater proportion of white in the seed coat correlated positively with brightness and negatively with mealiness (r=0.60, r=-0.60, p<0.001, respectively). Mealiness correlated negatively with seed-coat roughness and rate of water absorption (r=-0.60, r=-0.53, p<0.001, respectively). Materials of Andean origin had lower seed-coat brightness (p<0.01) and seed-coat roughness, and greater seed-coat perceptibility, mealiness, flavor, and aroma (p<0.001) than materials of Mesoamerican origin. Growth habit failed to correlate with culinary or sensory traits. Breeders can benefit from the information about this core collection available at www.crf.inia.es/crfesp/paginaprincipaljudia.asp

Molecular analysis of menadione-induced resistance against biotic stress in Arabidopsis

19 páginas, 6 figuras, 2 tablas.Menadione sodium bisulphite (MSB) is a water-soluble derivative of vitamin K3, or menadione, and has been previously demonstrated to function as a plant defence activator against several pathogens in several plant species. However, there are no reports of the role of this vitamin in the induction of resistance in the plant model Arabidopsis thaliana. In the current study, we demonstrate that MSB induces resistance by priming in Arabidopsis against the virulent strain Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pto) without inducing necrosis or visible damage. Changes in gene expression in response to 0.2 mm MSB were analysed in Arabidopsis at 3, 6 and 24 h post-treatment using microarray technology. In general, the treatment with MSB does not correlate with other publicly available data, thus MSB produces a unique molecular footprint. We observed 158 differentially regulated genes among all the possible trends. More up-regulated genes are included in categories such as 'response to stress' than the background, and the behaviour of these genes in different treatments confirms their role in response to biotic and abiotic stress. In addition, there is an over-representation of the G-box in their promoters. Some interesting functions are represented among the individual up-regulated genes, such as glutathione S-transferases, transcription factors (including putative regulators of the G-box) and cytochrome P450s. This work provides a wide insight into the molecular cues underlying the effect of MSB as a plant resistance inducer.This work was partially funded by an INVESCAN, S.L. grant (No.OTT2001438) to the CSIC and by a BIO2006-02168 grant of MICINN to PT. The microarrays were funded in part by the “Genome España” Foundation. MER was supported by a research contract (ID-TF-06/002) from the Consejería de Industria, Comercio y Nuevas Tecnologías (Gobierno de Canarias). The authors thank CajaCanarias for their research support. We also thank Lorena Perales for her help in performing the bacterial growth curves, Dr. Héctor Cabrera for his useful advice on writing the manuscript, the English translation service of the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia and Mrs. Pauline Agnew whose endeavoured to edit the English translation of this paper.Peer reviewe

Lipostatic Mechanisms Preserving Cerebellar Lipids in MPTP-Treated Mice: Focus on Membrane Microdomains and Lipid-Related Gene Expression

The cerebellum is an essential component in the control of motor patterns. Despite dramatic alteration of basal ganglia morpho-functionality in Parkinson’s disease (PD), cerebellar function appears to be unaffected by the disease. Only recently this brain structure has been proposed to play compensatory roles in PD-induced motor dysfunction, particularly during the initial asymptomatic stages of PD. In PD subjects and animal models of PD, such as MPTP-treated mice, brain structures other than basal ganglia are also affected by the disease, including cortical areas not involved in motor control. Thus, it is noteworthy that the cerebellum remains unaffected. In the present study, we have analyzed the lipid composition of membrane microdomains [lipid rafts (LR) and non-raft domains] and assessed the expression levels of genes encoding enzymes synthesizing membrane-related lipids. The outcomes revealed that membrane domain lipids in cerebellum are highly preserved both in control and MPTP-treated mice as compared to control animals. Likewise, only small, mostly not significant, changes were observed in the expression of lipid-related genes in the cerebellum. Indeed, most changes were related to aging rather than to the exposure to the neurotoxin. Conversely, in the same animals, lipid composition, and gene expression were dramatically altered in the occipital cortex (OC), a brain area unrelated to the control of motor function. PCR and immunohistochemical analyses of both brain areas revealed that dopamine transporter (DAT) mRNA and protein were expressed in OC but not in the cerebellum. As MPTP neurotoxicity requires the expression of DAT to access intracellular compartments, we hypothesized that the absence of DAT in cerebellum hampers MPTP-induced toxicity. We conclude that cerebellum is endowed with efficient mechanisms to preserve nerve cell lipid homeostasis, which greatly maintain the stability of membrane microdomains involved in synaptic transmission, signal transduction, and intercellular communication, which together may participate in the compensatory role of the cerebellum in PD symptomatology

Selección y mejora de la variedad tradicional de judía (phaseolus vulgaris l.) tavella brisa

Postprint (published version

Using trendsetting chefs to design new culinary preparations with the "Penjar" tomato

New food products are normally marketed after research regarding consumers' preferences. As an alternative, we used trendsetting chefs to develop and evaluate products with the traditional, long shelf life,Postprint (published version

Aproximación a la simulación de un sistema de telefonía móvil celular

En este artículo se describe un módulo de prácticas diseñado para los alumnos de primer curso de Ingeniería Técnica de Telecomunicación de la ULPGC en el que se simulan ciertos aspectos de un sistema de telefonía móvil celular (STMC). Los principales objetivos que se han perseguido son presentar a los alumnos la programación de computadores como una disciplina claramente relevante dentro del ámbito de las telecomunicaciones, y al mismo tiempo favorecer que los alumnos puedan ir descubriendo las conexiones que existen entre las distintas materias del plan de estudios desde los primeros cursos

Long-term postharvest aroma evolution of tomatoes with the alcobaça (alc) mutation

The postharvest evolution of Penjar tomatoes has been studied in four accessions representative of the variability of the varietal type. The long-term shelf life of these materials, which carry the alc allele, was confirmed with 31.2-59.1% of commercial fruits after 6 months of effective conservation at room temperature and a limited loss of weight (21.1-27.9%). Aroma in Penjar tomatoes is differentiated from other tomato varieties by a characteristic 'sharp-floral' aroma descriptor. The evolution of the 'sharp-floral' aroma during postharvest showed a peak of intensity at 2 months of postharvest, though in one accession a delay of 2 months in this response was detected. Out of 25 volatiles analysed, including main and background notes, a reverse iPLS variable selection revealed that the main candidates behind this aromatic behaviour are ¿-terpineol, trans-2-hexenal, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, trans-2-octenal, ¿-pinene, ß-ionone, 2 + 3-methylbutanol and phenylacetaldehyde. Between harvest and 2 months postharvest, most compounds reduced considerably their concentration, while the intensity of the 'sharp-floral' descriptor increased, which means that probably there is a rearrangement of the relative concentrations among volatiles that may lead to masking/unmasking processes. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.This work was supported by grants from the Conselleria de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentacio de la Comunidad Valenciana, the Fundacion de la Comunidad Valenciana para la Investigacion Agroalimentaria (AGROALIMED) and from the Departament d'Agricultura, Alimentacio i Accio Rural (DAR) de la Generalitat de Catalunya.Casals Missio, J.; Cebolla Cornejo, J.; Rosello Ripolles, S.; Beltran Arandes, J.; Casanas, F.; Nuez Viñals, F. (2011). Long-term postharvest aroma evolution of tomatoes with the alcobaça (alc) mutation. 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J Exp Bot 60:2139–2154Ortiz-Serrano P, Gil JV (2010) Quantitative comparison of free and bound volatiles of two commercial tomato cultivars (Solanum lycopersicum L.) during ripening. J Agric Food Chem 58:1106–1114Boukobza F, Taylor AJ (2002) Effect of postharvest treatment on flavour volatiles of tomatoes. Postharvest Biol Technol 25:321–331Vrebalov J, Ruezinsky D, Padmanabhan V, White R, Medrano D, Drake R, Schuch W, Giovannoni J (2002) A MADS-box gene necessary for fruit ripening at the tomato ripening-inhibitor (rin) locus. Science 296:343–346Giovannoni JJ, Tanksley SD, Vrebalov J, Noensie E (2004) NOR gene for use in manipulation of fruit quality and ethylene response. US Patent No 5,234,834 issued 13 July 2004McGlasson WB, Last JH, Shaw KJ, Meldrum SK (1987) Influence of the non-ripening mutants rin and nor on the aroma of tomato fruit. HortScience 22:632–634Baldwin EA, Scott JW, Shewmaker CK, Schuch W (2000) Flavor trivia and tomato aroma: biochemistry and possible mechanisms for control of important aroma components. HortScience 35:1013–1022Kovács K, Rupert CF, Tikunov Y, Graham N, Bradley G, Seymour GB, Bovy AG, Grierson D (2009) Effect of pleiotropic ripening mutations on flavour volatile biosynthesis. Phytochemistry 70:1003–1008Gao HY, Zhu BZ, Zhu HL, Zhang YL, Xie YH, Li YC, Luo YB (2007) Effect of suppression of ethylene biosynthesis on flavour products in tomato fruits. Russ J Plant Physiol 54:80–88Lewinsohn E, Sitrit Y, Bar E, Azulay Y, Meir A, Zamir D, Tadmor Y (2005) Carotenoid pigmentation affects the volatile composition of tomato and watermelon fruits, as revealed by comparative genetic analyses. J Agric Food Chem 53:3142–3148Kopeliovitch E, Mizrahi Y, Rabinowitch D, Kedar N (1980) Physiology of the mutant alcobaca. Physiol Plant 48:307–311Casals J, Pacual L, Cañizares J, Cebolla-Cornejo J, Casañas F, Nuez F (2011) Genetic basis of long shelf life and variability into Penjar tomato. Genet Resour Crop Evol. doi: 10.1007/s10722-011-9677-6Kuzyomenskii AV (2007) Effect of cumulative polymery of tomato keeping life genes. Cytol Genet 41:268–275Paran I, van der Knaap E (2007) Genetic and molecular regulation of fruit and plant domestication traits in tomato and pepper. J Exp Bot 58:3841–3852Moretti CL, Baldwin EA, Sargent SA, Huber DJ (2002) Internal bruising alters aroma volatile profiles in tomato fruit tisúes. HortScience 37:378–382Buttery RG, Teranishi R, Ling LC (1987) Fresh tomato aroma volatiles: a qualitative study. J Agric Food Chem 35:540–544Romero del Castillo R, Valero J, Casañas F, Costell E (2008) Training validation and maintenance of a panel to evaluate the texture of dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). 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Impacts of Use and Abuse of Nature in Catalonia with Proposals for Sustainable Management

This paper provides an overview of the last 40 years of use, and in many cases abuse, of the natural resources in Catalonia, a country that is representative of European countries in general, and especially those in the Mediterranean region. It analyses the use of natural resources made by mining, agriculture, livestock, logging, fishing, nature tourism, and energy production and consumption. This use results in an ecological footprint, i.e., the productive land and sea surface required to generate the consumed resources and absorb the resulting waste, which is about seven times the amount available, a very high number but very similar to other European countries. This overexploitation of natural resources has a huge impact on land and its different forms of cover, air, and water. For the last 25 years, forests and urban areas have each gained almost 3% more of the territory at the expense of agricultural land; those municipalities bordering the sea have increased their number of inhabitants and activity, and although they only occupy 6.7% of the total surface area, they account for 43.3% of the population; air quality has stabilized since the turn of the century, and there has been some improvement in the state of aquatic ecosystems, but still only 36% are in good condition, while the remainder have suffered morphological changes and different forms of nonpoint source pollution; meanwhile the biodiversity of flora and fauna remains still under threat. Environmental policies do not go far enough so there is a need for revision of the legislation related to environmental impact and the protection of natural areas, flora, and fauna. The promotion of environmental research must be accompanied by environmental education to foster a society which is more knowledgeable, has more control and influence over the decisions that deeply affect it. Indeed, nature conservation goes hand in hand with other social and economic challenges that require a more sustainable vision. Today's problems with nature derive from the current economic model, which is environmentally unsustainable in that it does not take into account environmental impacts. Lastly, we propose a series of reasonable and feasible priority measures and actions related to each use made of the country's natural resources, to the impacts they have had, and to their management, in the hope that these can contribute to improving the conservation and management of the environment and biodiversity and move towards sustainability