Observations on onion production and storage in the S. E. of Buenos Aires in relation with water availability

En experimentos con siete cultivares de cebolla de diferente longitud de ciclo, realizados en el sudeste de la provincia de Buenos Aires (Argentina) bajo restricción hídrica, se observó además del esperable tamaño reducido de los bulbos, una llamativa desmejora en su conservación, en relación con ensayos sin limitaciones de agua. La marcada aceleración de la brotación y el incremento en la tasa de pérdida de peso de los bulbos en almacenamiento como consecuencia de las restricciones hídricas durante el llenado fueron confirmadas en un ensayo independiente con el cv. Valcatorce INTA. Estos resultados sugieren la necesidad de replantear el manejo del agua en cebolla al menos cuando se pretende su conservación a largo plazo, como es el caso de los cultivos para exportación.In experiments with seven onion cultivars of different cycle length in the S.E. of Buenos Aires province (Argentina) under restricted water supply, an expected reduction in bulb size but also an unexpected decline in bulb postharvest life were observed, relative to essays with non-limiting irrigation. The remarkable acceleration of sprouting together with an increased weight loss rate, as a consequence of water deficit during bulb filling, was confirmed in an independent experiment with cv. Valcatorce INTA. These results suggest the need of reevaluating water management of the onion crop, especially when destined to long-term storage as required for export.Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

Emergence and initial growth of tall fescue free and infected with wild or safe endophytes

El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar, durante la etapa temprana de implantación de festuca alta, el porcentaje y la velocidad de emergencia, la producción de biomasa y la proporción de raíz en plantas provenientes de una población naturalizada del sudeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (S) y del cv. Taita (T), libres (S- y T-, respectivamente) e infectadas con el endófito silvestre Epichloë coenophiala (S+) y con el endófito seguro AR584 (T+) respectivamente. Se sembraron ocho bandejas plantineras de 50 celdas para cada tratamiento (i.e. S-, S+, T- y T+) y se ubicaron de forma tal que la superficie superior de la misma quedara al ras del suelo en una parcela preparada para la siembra de una pastura. El número de plántulas emergidas en cada bandeja se registró diariamente hasta los 28 días desde la siembra y se determinó el porcentaje y la velocidad de emergencia. A los 47 días desde la siembra se determinó la materia seca de la parte aérea y radical de las plantas emergidas. A los 28 días desde la siembra, no se registraron diferencias significativas en el número de plantúlas emergidas dentro de las festucas infectadas (p=0,9965) ni entre las libres (p=0,7525). No se encontraron diferencias significativas (p=0,4738) entre las festucas en la velocidad de emergencia. Las festucas infectadas presentaron una biomasa total por planta superior a la de las libres debido a una mayor biomasa de raíces, aunque las diferencias para ambas variables sólo fueron significativas (p<0,001) en el caso del cv. Taita. En nuestras condiciones la presencia del endófito aumentó el porcentaje de plántulas emergidas tanto en la población naturalizada como en Taita, y promovió el desarrollo radical en este último.The objective of this work was to assess, during the early stages of tall fescue implantation, the percentage of emergence, the emergence speed index, biomass production and root proportion of a naturalized population from Buenos Aires province (S) and cv. Taita (T), free (S- and T-, respectively) and infected with the wild endophyte Epichloë coenophiala (S+) and with the safe endophyte AR584 respectively (T+). Eight seedling trays with 50 cells were sown for each treatment (i.e. S-, S+, T- and T+) and placed on a bare soil in such a way that the upper surface of the trays was at soil level. The number of emerged seedlings was recorded daily up to 28 days after sowing and percentage and emergence speed index were calculated. At 47 days from sowing the biomass of shoot and roots of the plants was determined. At 28 days from sowing, no significant differences were registered in the number of emerged seedlings within endophyte-infected (p=0.9965) or endophyte-free (p=0.7525) treatments. No significant differences (p=0.4738) were found among treatments for the emergence speed index. The total biomass per plant for endophyte-infected tall fescues was higher than for endophyte-free ones due to a higher root biomass, although for both variables the differences were significant (p<0,001) only in cv. Taita. In our conditions, the presence of both endophytes allowed the respective tall fescues to increase the percentage of seedling emergence and to promote root development in cv. Taita.Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

Preliminary in vitro evaluation of the anti-proliferative activity of guanylhydrazone derivatives

Guanylhydrazones have shown promising antitumor activity in preclinical tumor models in several studies. In this study, we aimed at evaluating the cytotoxic effect of a series of synthetic guanylhydrazones. Different human tumor cell lines, including HCT-8 (colon carcinoma), MDA-MB-435 (melanoma) and SF-295 (glioblastoma) were continuous exposed to guanylhydrazone derivatives for 72 hours and growth inhibition of tumor cell lines and macrophages J774 was measured using tetrazolium salt (MTT) assay. Compounds 7, 11, 16 and 17 showed strong cytotoxic activity with IC50 values lower than 10 μmol L–1 against four tumor cell lines. Among them, 7 was less toxic to non-tumor cells. Finally, the obtained data suggest that guanylhydrazones may be regarded as potential lead compounds for the design of novel anticancer agents

Altered adipocyte differentiation and unbalanced autophagy in type 2 Familial Partial Lipodystrophy: an in vitro and in vivo study of adipose tissue browning

Type-2 Familial Partial Lipodystrophy is caused by LMNA mutations. Patients gradually lose subcutaneous fat from the limbs, while they accumulate adipose tissue in the face and neck. Several studies have demonstrated that autophagy is involved in the regulation of adipocyte differentiation and the maintenance of the balance between white and brown adipose tissue. We identified deregulation of autophagy in laminopathic preadipocytes before induction of differentiation. Moreover, in differentiating white adipocyte precursors, we observed impairment of large lipid droplet formation, altered regulation of adipose tissue genes, and expression of the brown adipose tissue marker UCP1. Conversely, in lipodystrophic brown adipocyte precursors induced to differentiate, we noticed activation of autophagy, formation of enlarged lipid droplets typical of white adipocytes, and dysregulation of brown adipose tissue genes. In agreement with these in vitro results indicating conversion of FPLD2 brown preadipocytes toward the white lineage, adipose tissue from FPLD2 patient neck, an area of brown adipogenesis, showed a white phenotype reminiscent of its brown origin. Moreover, in vivo morpho-functional evaluation of fat depots in the neck area of three FPLD2 patients by PET/CT analysis with cold stimulation showed the absence of brown adipose tissue activity. These findings highlight a new pathogenetic mechanism leading to improper fat distribution in lamin A-linked lipodystrophies and show that both impaired white adipocyte turnover and failure of adipose tissue browning contribute to disease.We thank FPLD2 patients for donating biological samples. We thank the Italian Network for Laminopathies and the European Consortium of Lipodystrophies (ECLip) for support and helpful discussion. We thank Aurelio Valmori for the technical support. The studies were supported by Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute “5 per mille” 2014 project to MC, AIProSaB project 2016 and Fondazione Del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna grant 2015–2016 “New pharmacological approaches in bone laminopathies based on the use of antibodies neutralizing TGF beta 2” to GL. GL is also supported by PRIN MIUR project 2015FBNB5Y.S

Observaciones sobre la producción y conservación de cebolla en el sudeste de Buenos Aires en relación con la disponibilidad hídrica.

En experimentos con siete cultivares de cebolla de diferente longitud de ciclo, realizados en el sudestede la provincia de Buenos Aires (Argentina) bajo restricción hídrica, se observó además del esperable tamaño reducido de los bulbos, una llamativa desmejora en su conservación, en relación con ensayos sin limitaciones de agua. La marcada aceleración de la brotación y el incremento en la tasa de pérdida de peso de los bulbos en almacenamiento como consecuencia de las restricciones hídricas durante el llenado fueron confirmadas en un ensayo independiente con el cv. Valcatorce INTA. Estos resultados sugieren la necesidad de replantear el manejo del agua en cebolla al menos cuando se pretende su conservación a largo plazo, como es el caso de los cultivos para exportación

Synthesis of 2,3-Diyne-1,4-naphthoquinone Derivatives and Evaluation of Cytotoxic Activity against Tumor Cell Lines

A series of 2,3-diyne-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives was synthesized from 2,3-dibromo1,4-naphthoquinone and various functionalized terminal alkynes using palladium-catalyzed Sonogashira cross-coupling reaction. The diynes were evaluated as potential cytotoxic agents against three tumor cell lines: human ovarian adenocarcinoma (OVCAR-8), human metastatic prostate cancer (PC-3M) and human bronchoalveolar lung carcinoma (NCI-H358M), presenting, in general, satisfactory results for inhibition of cell growth