Application of modulated chlorophyll fluorescence and modulated chlorophyll fluorescence imaging to study the environmental stress effect

Chlorophyll (Chl) a fluorescence is a widely used tool to monitor the photosynthetic process in plants subjected to environmental stresses. this review reports the theoretical bases of Chl fluorescence, and the significance of the most important Chl fluorescence parameters. it also reports how these parameters can be utilised to estimate changes in photosystem (Ps) ii photochemistry, linear electron flux and dissipation mechanisms. the relation between actual Psii photochemistry and Co2 assimilation is discussed, as is the role of photochemical and non-photochemical quenching in inducing changes in Psii activity. the application of Chl fluorescence imaging to study heterogeneity on leaf lamina is also considered. this review summarises only some of the results obtained by this methodology to study the effects of different environmental stresses, namely water availability, nutrients, pollutants, temperature and salinity

Unraveling graft compatibility of scion/rootstock interactions in pepper

Publishe

Caracterización agronómica-morfológica de 6 entradas de "tomaca tipo masclet" de la colección de variedades tradicionales del IVIA

[ES] En el presente trabajo se muestran las características morfológicas y de interés agronómico del fruto, correspondientes a 6 entradas de tomate valenciano perteneciente a la colección de variedades tradicionales del IVIA. Las 6 entradas son: IVIA-2 (origen Moncada); IVIA-27 (origen Siete Aguas); IVIA-28 (origen Paiporta); IVIA-69 (origen Moncada); IVIA-72 (origen Moncada); IVIA-126 (origen El Perelló). Respecto a la arquitectura de la planta, las 6 entradas son similares. La diferencia más importante entre ellas es debido a la morfología del fruto; tanto en su sección longitudinal, número de lóculos y el peso medio de los frutos. Las entradas con el extremo distal del fruto con forma puntiaguda, característica muy apreciada por los consumidores, son las IVIA-27 e IVIA-69. Por otro lado, IVIA-28, presenta el mayor peso medio de los frutos con un valor de 262g con una gran calidad, aunque la forma del fruto es menos puntiaguda que ninguno de los otros. Las 6 entradas presentan un gran potencial agronómico dado que presentan un tamaño, forma y color de fruto atrayentes dentro de los cánones de la denominación del tomate valenciano.[EN] In the present work we present the morphological and agronomical interest characteristics of 6 accessions of Valencian tomato from the IVIA traditional varieties collection. The 6 accesions are: IVIA-2 (origin Moncada); IVIA-27 (origin Siete Aguas); IVIA-28 (origin Paiporta); IVIA-69 (origin Moncada); IVIA-72 (origin Moncada); IVIA-126 (origin El Perelló). Regarding plant architecture, the 6 accessions are similar. The most important difference among them is due to the fruit morphology; in particular in its longitudinal section, number of locules and mean fruit weight. The accessions with the distal part of the fruit more pointed, a characteristic very appreciated by consumers, are IVIA-27 and IVIA-69. On the other side, IVIA-28 has the greatest fruit size with a value of 262g and a great quality, although the fruit shape is less pointed than any of the others. The 6 accessions have a great agronomic potential as they have an attractive fruit size, shape and color within the typical characteristics of the denomination Valencian tomato.El equipo de horticultura del IVIA agradece a la Conselleria d`Agricultura, Medi Ambient, Canvi Climatic i Desenvolupament Rural por el soporte y ayuda para el mantenimiento de la colección de variedades tradicionales valencianas del IVIA.Marsal, J.; Cerdá, J.; López Serrano, L.; Penella, C.; Calatayud Chover, Á. (2020). Caracterización agronómica-morfológica de 6 entradas de "tomaca tipo masclet" de la colección de variedades tradicionales del IVIA. En I Congrés de la Tomaca Valenciana: La Tomaca Valenciana d'El Perelló. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 65-71. https://doi.org/10.4995/TOMAVAL2017.2017.6320OCS657

Strategies to avoid salinity and hydric stress of pepper grafted plants

Sweet pepper is one of the most important vegetable crops in arid and semiarid regions. Grafting has been proposed as an interesting strategy that improves the responses of crops under the salinity and hydric deficits occurring in these areas. In a previous work, we selected Capsicum spp accessions with different degrees of salinity and hydric stress tolerance to be used as rootstocks (the highest to lowest): Capsicum chinense Jacq. ‘ECU-973’ (code 12), Capsicum baccatum L. var. pendulum ‘BOL-58’ (code 14) and Capsicum annuum L var. ‘Serrano’ (code 5). The behavior of commercial cultivar seedlings grafted onto these rootstocks was compared during 14 days under water stress (5% polyethylene glycol) and salinity (40 mM NaCl) in hydroponic culture. Different physiological parameters were measured to test the hypothesis that tolerance might be related to the role of rootstock in altering the stress perception by the scion and to identify differences in pepper-grafted plants adaptation mechanisms in response to salt and osmotic stresses. At a similar osmotic pressure of the solution, grafted plants onto the 12 and 14 rootstocks activated tolerance mechanisms based on ion specific responses under salinity, whereas osmotic adjustment based on proline accumulation was performed under water stress. The maintenance of the scion's homeostasis under salinity was achieved through the restriction of Cl- transport to leaves and to diminished Na+ loading in roots and leaves, thus favouring K+ uptake. Under both stresses, a minor negative impact on photosynthesis, nitrate reductase activity and lipid peroxidation in scion leaves grafted onto 12 and 14 rootstocks was observed. In conclusion, the results of these works reinforce that the use of tolerant pepper rootstocks is a promising strategy to provide salinity and water stress tolerance and can consequently improve crop yield

Evaluation of some pepper genotypes as rootstocks in water stress conditions

[EN] Water stress is a major environmental factor that limits crop production and it is important to develop crop varieties with higher yield under water scarcity. Increased pepper tolerance to water stress through grafting onto robust rootstocks could be an optimal alternative in the context of environmentally friendly agriculture. Our work evaluated the behaviour of 18 pepper genotypes during vegetative and reproductive stages under water stress in order to select tolerant genotypes to be used as rootstocks for pepper cultivation. The pepper tolerance screening was based on photosynthetic parameters. The genotypes Atlante, C-40, Serrano, PI-152225, ECU-973, BOL-58 and NuMex Conquistador were revealed as the most tolerant genotypes to water stress because they maintained net photosynthetic rate levels under water stress conditions. The selected genotypes were validated as rootstocks on a pepper cultivar in terms of productivity under severe water stress. Plants grafted onto cvs Atlante, PI-152225 and ECU-973 showed higher marketable yields when compared with ungrafted cultivar.Supported by Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, Project RTA2010-00038-C03-01-03 and the European Regional Development Fund.Penella, C.; González Nebauer, S.; López Galarza, SV.; San Bautista Primo, A.; Rodríguez Burruezo, A.; Calatayud, A. (2014). Evaluation of some pepper genotypes as rootstocks in water stress conditions. Horticultural Science. 41:192-200. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/73283S1922004

Anti-angiogenic therapies for the treatment of angiosarcoma: a clinical update

Summary: Angiosarcomas are rare aggressive endothelial tumours, and are associated with a poor prognosis. Due to their vascular nature, there is great interest in their response to anti-angiogenic agents. A number of small prospective studies have reported angiosarcoma response to vascular-targeted agents, including agents that target vascular endothelial growth factor. To date, the response to these agents has been disappointing, and similar to the response observed in other soft tissue sarcoma subtypes. This short review will summarise the recent data in this field

Phase I study of IMGN901, a CD56-targeting antibody-drug conjugate, in patients with CD56-positive solid tumors.

Background IMGN901 is a CD56-targeting antibody-drug conjugate designed for tumor-selective delivery of the cytotoxic maytansinoid DM1. This phase 1 study investigated the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary activity of IMGN901 in patients with CD56-expressing solid tumors. Methods Patients were enrolled in cohorts of escalating IMGN901 doses, administered intravenously, on 3 consecutive days every 21 days. A dose-expansion phase accrued patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC), Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), or ovarian cancer. Results Fifty-two patients were treated at doses escalating from 4 to 94 mg/m(2)/day. The maximum tolerated dose (MTD) was determined to be 75 mg/m(2). Dose-limiting toxicities included fatigue, neuropathy, headache or meningitis-like symptoms, chest pain, dyspnea, and myalgias. In the dose-expansion phase (n = 45), seven patients received 75 mg/m(2) and 38 received 60 mg/m(2) for up to 21 cycles. The recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) was established at 60 mg/m(2) during dose expansion. Overall, treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were experienced by 96.9 % of all patients, the majority of which were Grade 1 or 2. The most commonly reported Grade 3 or 4 TEAEs were hyponatremia and dyspnea (each 8.2 %). Responses included 1 complete response (CR), 1 clinical CR, and 1 unconfirmed partial response (PR) in MCC; and 1 unconfirmed PR in SCLC. Stable disease was seen for 25 % of all evaluable patients who received doses ≥60 mg/m(2). Conclusions The RP2D for IMGN901 of 60 mg/m(2) administered for 3 consecutive days every 3 weeks was associated with an acceptable tolerability profile. Objective responses were observed in patients with advanced CD56+ cancers

Gene–gene interaction of AhRwith and within the Wntcascade affects susceptibility to lung cancer

Background Aberrant Wnt signalling, regulating cell development and stemness, influences the development of many cancer types. The Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) mediates tumorigenesis of environmental pollutants. Complex interaction patterns of genes assigned to AhR/Wnt-signalling were recently associated with lung cancer susceptibility. Aim To assess the association and predictive ability of AhR/Wnt-genes with lung cancer in cases and controls of European descent. Methods Odds ratios (OR) were estimated for genomic variants assigned to the Wnt agonist and the antagonistic genes DKK2, DKK3, DKK4, FRZB, SFRP4 and Axin2. Logistic regression models with variable selection were trained, validated and tested to predict lung cancer, at which other previously identified SNPs that have been robustly associated with lung cancer risk could also enter the model. Furthermore, decision trees were created to investigate variant x variant interaction. All analyses were performed for overall lung cancer and for subgroups. Results No genome-wide significant association of AhR/Wnt-genes with overall lung cancer was observed, but within the subgroups of ever smokers (e.g., maker rs2722278 SFRP4; OR = 1.20; 95% CI 1.13-1.27; p = 5.6 x 10(-10)) and never smokers (e.g., maker rs1133683 Axin2; OR = 1.27; 95% CI 1.19-1.35; p = 1.0 x 10(-12)). Although predictability is poor, AhR/Wnt-variants are unexpectedly overrepresented in optimized prediction scores for overall lung cancer and for small cell lung cancer. Remarkably, the score for never-smokers contained solely two AhR/Wnt-variants. The optimal decision tree for never smokers consists of 7 AhR/Wnt-variants and only two lung cancer variants. Conclusions The role of variants belonging to Wnt/AhR-pathways in lung cancer susceptibility may be underrated in main-effects association analysis. Complex interaction patterns in individuals of European descent have moderate predictive capacity for lung cancer or subgroups thereof, especially in never smokers

Obesity, Metabolic Factors and Risk of Different Histological Types of Lung Cancer: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Background: Assessing the relationship between lung cancer and metabolic conditions is challenging because of the confounding effect of tobacco. Mendelian randomization (MR), or the use of genetic instrumental variables to assess causality, may help to identify the metabolic drivers of lung cancer. Methods and findings: We identified genetic instruments for potential metabolic risk factors and evaluated these in relation to risk using 29,266 lung cancer cases (including 11,273 adenocarcinomas, 7,426 squamous cell and 2,664 small cell cases) and 56,450 controls. The MR risk analysis suggested a causal effect of body mass index (BMI) on lung cancer risk for two of the three major histological subtypes, with evidence of a risk increase for squamous cell carcinoma (odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.20 [1.01–1.43] and for small cell lung cancer (OR [95%CI] = 1.52 [1.15–2.00]) for each standard deviation (SD) increase in BMI [4.6 kg/m2]), but not for adenocarcinoma (OR [95%CI] = 0.93 [0.79–1.08]) (Pheterogeneity = 4.3x10-3). Additional analysis using a genetic instrument for BMI showed that each SD increase in BMI increased cigarette consumption by 1.27 cigarettes per day (P = 2.1x10-3), providing novel evidence that a genetic susceptibility to obesity influences smoking patterns. There was also evidence that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was inversely associated with lung cancer overall risk (OR [95%CI] = 0.90 [0.84–0.97] per SD of 38 mg/dl), while fasting insulin was positively associated (OR [95%CI] = 1.63 [1.25–2.13] per SD of 44.4 pmol/l). Sensitivity analyses including a weighted-median approach and MR-Egger test did not detect other pleiotropic effects biasing the main results. Conclusions: Our results are consistent with a causal role of fasting insulin and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in lung cancer etiology, as well as for BMI in squamous cell and small cell carcinoma. The latter relation may be mediated by a previously unrecognized effect of obesity on smoking behavior