Identification, classification and phylogenetic analysis of bZIP proteins from Theobroma cacao for subsequent studies of resistance to witches' broom disease : S01P02

Biotic and abiotic stresses are a major factor in decreased production of various cultures around the world. The culture of cacao (Theobroma cacao) has been suffering for many years with one of the diseases that most affect their crops, the witches' broom caused by the fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa. Studies have identified several transcription factors as promising candidates for developed roles in the regulation and signaling via various stresses in plants. bZIP family proteins are transcription factors (TF) that regulate various physiological and development processes, such as seed maturation, vascular development, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Here, we performed an in silico analysis of the bZIP family from Theobroma cacao to subsequently develop a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis in four angiosperms species. For this, bZIP protein sequences of Arabidopsis thaliana were downloaded from the Phytozome database. BLASTP search was performed to identify Solanum lycopersicum, Oryza sativa, Sorghum bicolor and Theobroma cacao bZIP homologs. Analysis of protein domains, search for conserved motifs and alignment of the bZIP proteins were conducted using the PFAM, MEME, CLUSTALW, respectively. The distribution of the bZIP sequences on cacao chromosomes was obtained on the CacaoGenDB site (http://cocoagendb.cirad.fr) using the Interpro number. Protein sequences of the species under study were subjected to a multiple alignment using the software MEGA v5.0, and a Neighbor-joining tree was constructed based on the genetic distance matrix JTT. A classification of the A. thaliana bZIP TFs according to biological function was obtained using the TAIR site (http://www.arabidopsis.org/). We identified 65 bZIPs in cacao, 75 in tomato, 90 in rice and 89 in sorghum. The bZIPs found in cacao were distributed across all 10 chromosomes (Chr), except on chromosome 6, with higher abundance in Chr 01, 02 and 09. According to the study, some region of QTLs related to cacao resistance to witches' broom was located on Chr 2 and 9, may seek markers within genes in this region and use in plant breeding. The bZIP family proteins were grouped into 13 possible orthologous groups based on the classification performed in Arabidopsis thaliana. Five of the cacao bZIP were clustered with proteins highly related to defense to pathogens, being promising candidates for functional study in cacao plants, especially against the witches' broom disease. Funding Agency: FAPESB, CNPq, CAPES and CIRAD. (Texte intégral

A new desiccation-related protein identified by proteomics in the phylloplane of Theobroma cacao

Currently, 20 millions of people from producing countries, such as Brazil, depend directly on cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) for their survival. The witches' broom disease caused by the fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa had drastic consequences on the socio-economic and environmental development of the affected regions, such as the Bahia State. The disease begins with the germination of the basidiospores on the leaf surface (or phylloplane), followed by the penetration of the germination tube into the intercellular space and the colonization of the plant tissues by the mycelium (biotrophic phase). It has been suggested that the phylloplane is one of the first battlefield of the host and pathogen, and the first interface between plant and environment. Here, we identify by SDS-PAGE/MS/MS, the cacao phylloplane proteins, using two different cacao varieties, one susceptible (Catongo) and one resistant (CCN51) to M. perniciosa. One of our objectives was to quantify the small glandular trichomes (SGTs) in relation with the plant resistance/susceptibility to M.perniciosa. Six hundred resistant cacao leaves were collected and washed in distilled water for 30 seconds. Proteins were extracted from filtered and dried washing, and analyzed on SDS-PAGE. The bands were excised from the gel, subjected to reduction/alkylation and tryptic digestion, and then the peptides were analyzed by mass spectrometry on Micromass ESI-Q-Tof Micro (Waters). The more abundant band (25-35 kDa) was sequenced by MS/MS and resulted in eight peptides, corresponding to a new basic protein of 310 amino acids, with a molecular mass of 33.7 kDa and a theoretical pI of 10.25. This protein contains a probable signal peptide cleavage site between the amino acids 24 and 25. The amino acid sequence revealed similarity to a protein related to desiccation tolerance characterized in pollen-grain of Medicago. Histology was performed on CCN51 and Catongo leaves, to obtain the rate of occurrence of SGTs. CCN51 and Catongo presented an average of 1500 and 700 SGTs/cm2, respectively. The role of the proteins involved in tolerance to desiccation or present in the phylloplane of T. cacao are discussed. (Texte intégral

Chronic Q fever with no elevation of inflammatory markers: a case report

Chronic q Fever with no elevation of inflammatory markers: a case report. Boattini M, Almeida A, Moura RB, Abreu J, Santos AS, Toscano Rico M. SourceDepartment of Internal Medicine, St. Marta's Hospital, 1169-024 Lisbon, Portugal. Abstract We describe the case of a 55-year-old man with a biological prosthetic aortic valve who suffered from epigastrium and right hypochondrium pain associated with intermittent night sweats. Liver biopsy showed infectious hepatitis pattern without pathognomonic features. Coxiella burnetii serology was suggestive of chronic Q fever, and modified Duke's criteria for endocarditis were also fulfilled. The authors present a brief literature review concerning chronic Q fever, emphasizing absent previous reports of chronic Q fever with hepatitis and endocarditis and no increase in inflammatory markers

Detection of Borrelia lusitaniae, Rickettsia sp. IRS3, Rickettsia monacensis and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Ixodes ricinus collected in Madeira Island, Portugal

A total of 300 Ixodes ricinus ticks were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the presence of Borrelia spp., Rickettsia spp., and Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Sequence analysis demonstrated 8 (2.7%) ticks infected with B. lusitaniae, 60 (20%) with Rickettsia spp., and 1 (0.3%) with A. phagocytophilum. Seven (2.3%) ticks were coinfected with B. lusitaniae and Rickettsia spp., 2 (0.6%) with R. monacensis, and 5 (1.7%) with Rickettsia sp. IRS3. The results of this study suggest simultaneous transmission of multiple tick-borne agents on Madeira Island, Portugal

Plantas de inhame en Pernambuco e Paraiba apresentam infecções simples e mista por potyvirus e badnavirus [Abstract and Poster]

Amostras foliares e túberas de plantas de Inhame da Costa (Diosoorea rotundata) foram coletadas em campo de produção comercial nos estados de Pernambuco e Paraiba. O material foi obtido de plantas assintomáticas, plantas exibindo mosaico suave e de plantas com forte mosaico, nanismo, deformação foliare "cordão-de-sapato". Folhas obtidas diretamente do carnpo e de plantas regeneradas em casa de vegetação, a partir das tuberas coletadas, foram submentidas a testes de inoculação mecanica em Nicotiana benthamiana e Gomphrena purpurea; analise sorológica por ELISA indireto: DAC (direct antigen coating)-ELISA, com anti-soro contra o Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), obtido da Universidade da Georgia-USA e TAS (triple antibody sandwich)-ELISA, com anti-soro e anticorpos monoclonais contra o Yam mosaic virus (YMV), obtidos do IITA, Nigéria, e testes moleculares do tipo duplex DNAC (direct nucleic acid coating) one-step RT-PCR (kit Invitrogen), efetuados com primers especifìcos para os potyvirus YMV e Yam mild mosaic virus (YMMV) e DNAC-PCR (Taq polimerase Invitrogen) com primers degenerados para badnavirus. Dentre as plantas assintomáticas, uma, "planta 9", mostrou-se Ilvre de virus, tomando-se o controle negativo nos diferentes testes. Com base na transmissão mecânica do YMV, reação positiva para YMV no TAS-ELISA e bandas correspondentes ao YMV no teste DNAC-RT-PCR e ao badnavirus no DNAC-PCR, as plantas com sintomas suaves e plantas com sintomas severos apresentaram infecção simples de YMV e infecção mista de YMV e badnavirus, respectivamente. Apesar da correlação observada entre tipo de sintoma e tipo de infecção no presente estudo, deve ser resaltado que é amplamente mencionada na literatura a oconéncia de Infecção assintomética por badnavirus e outros virus em Dioscores spp. Apolo: CNPqe Convênio UFRPExCIRAD. (Résumé d'auteur

Stokes Diagnostis of 2D MHD-simulated Solar Magnetogranulation

We study the properties of solar magnetic fields on scales less than the spatial resolution of solar telescopes. A synthetic infrared spectropolarimetric diagnostics based on a 2D MHD simulation of magnetoconvection is used for this. We analyze two time sequences of snapshots that likely represent two regions of the network fields with their immediate surrounding on the solar surface with the unsigned magnetic flux density of 300 and 140 G. In the first region we find from probability density functions of the magnetic field strength that the most probable field strength at logtau_5=0 is equal to 250 G. Weak fields (B < 500 G) occupy about 70% of the surface, while stronger fields (B 1000 G) occupy only 9.7% of the surface. The magnetic flux is -28 G and its imbalance is -0.04. In the second region, these parameters are correspondingly equal to 150 G, 93.3 %, 0.3 %, -40 G, and -0.10. We estimate the distribution of line-of-sight velocities on the surface of log tau_5=-1. The mean velocity is equal to 0.4 km/s in the first simulated region. The averaged velocity in the granules is -1.2 km/s and in the intergranules is 2.5 km/s. In the second region, the corresponding values of the mean velocities are equal to 0, -1.8, 1.5 km/s. In addition we analyze the asymmetry of synthetic Stokes-V profiles of the Fe I 1564.8 nm line. The mean values of the amplitude and area asymmetry do not exceed 1%. The spatially smoothed amplitude asymmetry is increased to 10% while the area asymmetry is only slightly varied.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figure

Modelling of photonic wire Bragg Gratings

Some important properties of photonic wire Bragg grating structures have been investigate. The design, obtained as a generalisation of the full-width gap grating, has been modelled using 3D finite-difference time-domain simulations. Different types of stop-band have been observed. The impact of the grating geometry on the lowest order (longest wavelength) stop-band has been investigated - and has identified deeply indented configurations where reduction of the stop-bandwidth and of the reflectivity occurred. Our computational results have been substantially validated by an experimental demonstration of the fundamental stop-band of photonic wire Bragg gratings fabricated on silicon-on-insulator material. The accuracy of two distinct 2D computational models based on the effective index method has also been studied - because of their inherently much greater rapidity and consequent utility for approximate initial designs. A 2D plan-view model has been found to reproduce a large part of the essential features of the spectral response of full 3D models

I Ciclo de Conferências : Conselho Técnico Científico : temas atuais em investigação

A obra é constituída pelos resumos das comunicações apresentadas pelos docentes da Escola Superior Agrária do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco e são referentes aos projetos de investigação nos quais estão envolvidos.O Conselho Técnico-Científico (CTC) da Escola Superior Agrária tomou posse no dia 9 de Fevereiro de 2010. As suas primeiras acções orientaram-se no sentido de dar cumprimento ao estabelecido nos Estatutos da Escola Superior Agrária do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco, que entraram em vigor a partir de 14 de Janeiro de 2010. Estas acções centraram-se na re-organização interna da estrutura técnica e científica, na definição das estratégias de formação e de investigação, desenvolvimento e inovação (ID&I) da Escola Superior Agrária. Enquadrada nesta estratégia, o CTC considerou oportuno promover um ciclo de conferências, com o principal objectivo de criar um meio de apresentação e debate público do trabalho de ID&I desenvolvido por docentes e técnicos que possibilitasse, nas áreas de intervenção da ESA, o desenvolvimento de novas ideias e a criação de sinergias para estabelecimento de trabalhos pluridisciplinares e parcerias, não só a nível interno como também com stakeholders. A publicação das conferências realizadas neste primeiro mandato (2010-2012), disponibiliza a informação para um público mais alargado, visando contribuir de uma forma concreta para o desenvolvimento da região, aspecto de interesse prioritário na missão do IPCB/ESA

Identificación del índice de vulnerabilidad territorial a partir de modelos jerárquicos y heurísticos aplicando SOA

Auxiliar de InvestigaciónEn el proyecto se realiza el diseño y desarrollo de 4 servicios web implementando los modelos de toma de decisión (AHP, AHP FUZZY, ELECTRE y PROMETHEE), encargados de procesar datos obtenidos en campo en la primera fase del proyecto que se realizó a través de encuestas, formatos de entrevistas, talleres y metodologías de análisis. Los datos se procesaran de acuerdo al modelo de toma de decisión seleccionado, generando como resultado final un indicador de vulnerabilidad territorial.PregradoIngeniero de Sistema

Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of portuguese olive oil

The main goal of this paper was to assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of olive oil production in Portugal. A life-cycle model and inventory were implemented for the entire production process, including a comprehensive analysis of olive cultivation, olive oil extraction, packaging, and distribution. Data originates from five differently-sized Portuguese olive growers and from a total of six olive oil mills, representing the three extraction processes in use: three-phase extraction, two-phase extraction, and traditional pressing. The results show that the GHG intensity lies in the range 1.8-8.2 kg CO2eq/liter and that the main contributors were fertilizers (production and field emissions). Efficient use of fertilizers thus seems to be a key factor for mitigating the GHG intensity of olive oil production.This research was supported by project ECODEEP (Eco-efficiency and Eco-management in the Agro Industrial sector, FCOMP–05–0128–FEDER–018643) and the Portuguese Scienc