Differential responses of the antioxidant defence system and ultrastructure in a salt-adapted potato cell line

Changes in lipid peroxidation and ion content and the possible involvement of the antioxidant system in salt tolerance at the cellular level was studied in a potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) callus line grown on 150 mM NaCl (salt-adapted) and in a non-adapted line exposed to 150 mM NaCl (salt-stressed). Salinity reduced the growth rate and increased lipid peroxidation in salt-stressed line, which remained unaltered in the adapted line. Na+ and Cl− content increased due to salinity in both lines, but the adapted line displayed greater K+/Na+ ratio than the stressed one. Total superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1), ascorbate peroxidase (APX, EC 1.11.1.11), and glutathione reductase (GR, EC 1.6.4.2) activities decreased in both salt-exposed lines; catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6) activity did not change in the adapted line, but decreased in the stressed cell line. Salinity caused the suppression of one GR isoform, while the isozyme patterns of SOD, APX, and CAT were not affected. Ascorbate and reduced glutathione increased in both salt-exposed calli lines. α-Tocopherol increased as a result of salt exposure, with higher levels found in adapted calli. Electron microscopy showed that neither the structural integrity of the cells nor membrane structure were affected by salinity, but plastids from adapted cells had higher starch content. The results suggest that the enzymic and non-enzymic components of the antioxidant system are differentially modulated by salt. Different concentrations of antioxidant metabolites are more relevant to the adaptive response to salinity in potato calli than the differences in activity of the antioxidant enzymes.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Generation of a gene-corrected human induced pluripotent stem cell line derived from a patient with laterality defects and congenital heart anomalies with a c.455G > A alteration in DAND5.

This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (PTDC/ BIM-MED/3363/2014) and iNOVA4Health -UID/Multi/04462/ 2013, a program financially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/ Ministério da Educação e Ciência, through national funds and co-funded by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement.Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) from individual patient basis are considered a powerful resource to model human diseases. However, to study complex multigenic diseases such as Congenital Heart Disease, it is crucial to generate perfect isogenic controls to understand gene singularity and contribution. Here, we report the engendering of an isogenic hiPSC line with homozygous correction of c.455G > A alteration in the DAND5 gene, using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. The characterization of a clone of this cell line demonstrates normal karyotype, pluripotent state, and potential to differentiate in vitro towards endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm.publishersversionpublishe

Guest Editorial

[Excerpt] The 13th European Meeting on Ferroelectricity (EMF-13) has welcomed participants to Portugal for the first time in the history of these meetings. EMF-13 was held, from 28th June to 3rd July 2015, in the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto. The conference has been organized by the group “Polarized Materials and Functional Nanostructures” of the Materials Physics Institute, IFIMUP-IN, (IN - Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology), in the Physics and Astronomy Department of the Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto. The Local Organizing Committee included members of the Universities of Porto, Minho and Aveiro. Three hundred and sixty six attendees from thirty four countries in Europe, Asia, America, and Africa were fully registered at EMF-13 meeting. These participants took active part in the sessions and informal discussions that had place along the 5 days of the meeting. Five plenary talks, given by Vladimir Fridkin, David Field, Annette Bussmann-Holder, Manuel Bibes, and Stephen Rowley, sixty invited talks, and one hundred thirty five oral contributions covered a wide number of topics ranging from basic research to new characterization techniques or novel applications of ferroelectrics and related materials. Complementary to the program of the meeting, a one day satellite workshop on “Inelastic scattering in ferroic materials” took place on Sunday 28th. [...]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Redetermination at 180 K of a layered lanthanide–organic framework

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, poly[(μ4-{[bis­(hydrogen phospho­natometh­yl)aza­nium­yl]meth­yl}phospho­nato)lanthanum(III)], [La(C3H9NO9P3)]n, comprises an La3+ center and a H3nmp3− anion (where H3nmp3− is a residue of partially deprotonated nitrilo­tris­(methyl­ene­phospho­nic acid), namely {[bis­(hydrogen phospho­natometh­yl)aza­nium­yl]meth­yl}­phos­pho­nate). This study concerns a structural redetermination using single-crystal X-ray diffraction data, collected at the low temperature of 180 K, of a recently investigated material whose structural details have been proposed from powder X-ray diffraction studies [Silva et al. (2011 ▶). J. Am. Chem. Soc. 133, 15120–15138]. The main difference between the two models rests on the position of the H atoms. While two H atoms were modeled as attached to the same phospho­nate group in the powder determination, in the current model, the same H atoms are instead distributed among two of these groups. The sample studied was an inversion twin